Every driver on the Formula 1 grid started in the same place: a kart, usually before they were old enough for secondary school. What separates the twenty-two who made it from the thousands who did not is a mixture of talent, timing, money and a points system most fans have never heard of. This guide traces the route to a Formula 1 seat, step by step.
Step one: karting
Competitive karting begins between the ages of four and eight and runs through national and European championships into the late teens. It is where car control is learned, where the first sponsors and manager relationships form, and where the sport’s talent scouts do their earliest work. Championship-winning karting careers — Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Antonelli — are the norm rather than the exception among F1 drivers. This season’s signing of an 11-year-old, Robin Raikkonen, to Red Bull’s junior programme shows how early the pipeline now starts, as we discussed in our piece on F1’s dynasty pipeline.
Step two: the single-seater ladder
From about 15, drivers move into cars. The FIA-sanctioned ladder is now clearly defined:
- Formula 4: national championships in identical cars, the first step into single-seaters. A season costs in the low hundreds of thousands of pounds.
- Formula Regional: faster continental championships bridging F4 and F3.
- FIA Formula 3: the first series to race on the Grand Prix support bill, in front of F1 teams every weekend.
- FIA Formula 2: the final step, with cars close to F1 performance and the same weekends, tyres and circuits. A season costs well over a million pounds.
Not every driver follows the ladder exactly — some spend a season in Japanese Super Formula or American IndyCar — but the FIA’s points system, described below, is designed to reward this route.
Step three: the super licence
To race in Formula 1 a driver needs an FIA super licence, and to qualify for one they must:
- be at least 18 years old (the FIA can grant exceptions for exceptional drivers);
- hold a valid national licence and pass an FIA theory test on the regulations;
- have driven at least 300km in a representative Formula 1 car, usually in testing or free practice;
- have accumulated 40 super licence points from results in the previous three seasons.
Points are awarded according to a table that values each championship: the top three in Formula 2 all receive the full 40, the Formula 3 champion 30, the Formula Regional champion 25, the Super Formula and IndyCar champions 40, and so on down to smaller amounts for lower finishing positions. A driver who wins F3 and then finishes fourth in F2 typically qualifies; one who stagnates in the midfield may never reach 40 despite obvious speed. The rule was tightened after a 17-year-old Verstappen reached F1 in 2015 directly from Formula 3.
Junior driver programmes
Most current drivers came through an F1 team’s academy: Red Bull’s junior team is the most famous and most ruthless, but Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and Williams all run programmes that fund promising drivers through the ladder in exchange for first refusal on their services. Programme membership brings money, simulator time, testing opportunities and the 300km of F1 running the super licence requires — advantages so large that an unaffiliated driver reaching F1 is now extremely rare. Our profiles of Red Bull and Racing Bulls explain how the sport’s most productive pipeline works.
What it costs
The uncomfortable truth is that the ladder is enormously expensive. A serious karting programme can cost tens of thousands of pounds a year; Formula 4 and Formula 3 hundreds of thousands; Formula 2 over a million. Most drivers rely on a combination of family money, sponsors and, if they are fortunate, an academy. Initiatives such as Lando Norris’s newly announced junior team exist precisely because the cost excludes so many talented drivers before their ability can be judged.
What teams actually look for
Speed is the entry requirement, not the deciding factor — everyone at F2 level is fast. Teams look for consistency over a season, adaptability to new cars and circuits, technical feedback that engineers can use, composure under media pressure and, increasingly, marketability. A driver’s rate of improvement matters more than any single result, which is why teams monitor juniors for years before committing to them. The 2026 rookies — Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto — reached the grid through exactly this combination of championship results and long-term programme backing. Our 2026 driver line-up guide shows where every current driver came from.
Frequently asked questions
What age do F1 drivers start karting?
Most began between four and eight and were racing competitively in their early teens.
What is the super licence?
The FIA licence required to race in F1: minimum age 18, 40 super licence points over three seasons, and at least 300km in a representative F1 car.
How much does it cost?
Several million pounds across a career — tens of thousands per karting season, hundreds of thousands in F4 and F3, over a million for F2.
Do you have to win Formula 2?
No, but a top-three finish earns the full 40 points, and most recent recruits were F2 front-runners backed by a junior programme.
