As one could bluntly state it: because it takes a lot of money and connections to even be considered as a driver, it is statistically highly unlikely that, talent-wise, the current F1 drivers are in the top 1% or even top 25% of the world.
If Senna were born in tropical Africa, or even if he hadn’t had wealthy parents, he probably wouldn’t ever have raced a F1 car.
It’s way more likely for a talented soccer player from a similar background to make it into a top team.
Sure, it's not formula racing, but there are still massive barriers to entry for sim racing.
The money and connections are useful for getting drivers into the sport, but they're not going to succeed in it if they can't develop the necessary skill.
Yes, but for many of them, to a much lesser degree. I specifically mentioned soccer because it is extremely cheap to start playing it. All you need is a somewhat level playing area, anything that can mark the locations of the imaginary goal posts (coats, garbage cans, or just heaps of mud), and something resembling a ball (say a few crumpled newspapers tied together with tape or thread will work, if needed)
You don’t need grass, inflatable balls, side line markers, real goal posts, team uniforms, or even shoes.
Long distance running is another example at the other end of the range, as is cricket (for which you only need a few sticks, one bat, a hard ball, and a fairly hard surface), and, where sandy beaches are available, beach volleyball (for which the only expensive item is the ball. A rope can substitute for the net, if needed)
That’s why you see don’t see kids in favelas race karts, but see them play soccer or cricket (and, in Brazil, play beach volleyball)
”You can't just grab some random person from tropical Africa and have him play some sport alongside trained and experienced veterans and expect him to win”
I didn’t claim that. What I said is that, likely, there are kids in Africa who, if they were given the same opportunities as Senna, would have turned out to be better F1 drivers than him.
Yes, it is likely, just given the sheer numbers. But F1 driving is a sport requiring lots of skill and training and that opportunity just isn't available to many people due to the expenses involved. So I don't know why you're even bringing this up, unless you're trying to bash race car driving or the fact that not everyone in the world has equal opportunities, and I don't see how that's productive here.
they didn't say the drivers didn't need skill and only need money. they only said money was an additional and the larger barrier to entry. of course they need skill, but you'll never know if you have skill or not if you don't have money. nearly any type of racing is incredibly expensive.
