Robin Frijns did not come from a motor racing family, nor did he have a wealthy father to build a racing career with. Yet, he made it as a professional driver. However, achieving such a feat is almost impossible today. What would he do as a father and do talents still have access to motor racing?
He worked hard. He worked a lot. He had his own steel construction business, working ten to twelve-hour days. A hard worker. I’m talking about my father.
He didn’t have much to do with motor racing. And there wasn’t a lot of money to invest in my racing career. That’s okay, on the contrary: it’s remarkable that we managed to get so far that I became and am a professional driver.
But more and more often I think: is that still possible for others? I worry about where motor racing is heading, say, in about ten years. It has already become so expensive, soon it will only be accessible to a small group, I sometimes fear… Even now, young talents’ careers are already being cut short, purely because racing has become so costly.
Large sums needed even for karting
I’m not even talking about Formula 1. Even in Formula 2 and 3, it’s hardly affordable anymore, we’re talking millions and tons, even large sums are needed for karting. I know how difficult it can be, how expensive it can be; even in ‘my time’. And that really makes you think about the future of motor racing.
My father, my family; we didn’t have large budgets to drive around with. I also ended up in motor racing by chance, through a friend of my father. We didn’t have a bad life ourselves, mind you. We went on vacation, had nothing to complain about. But paying for racing seats, no, that was not an option.
I had to rely on sponsorship and opportunities from teams. I was allowed to test in the F3 for Prema, but a seat was unaffordable. Later, as the champion of Formula BMW, I ended up in Formula Renault 2.0, and the champion of that received half a million euros in prize money to use for a place in the then Formula Renault 3.5 Series. But we knew: if I didn’t become a champion, it would be the end of my career.
Eventually, everything worked out, and I became a test driver for Sauber in Formula 1, but there was no money for a permanent spot in the GP2 – the current Formula 2. Fortunately, I was able to race a few times. But since I had little else to do, I started mentoring young people in karting.
It opened my eyes, I found it enjoyable, even though I was only 22 years old myself. I loved seeing these talents grow, asking questions that they then had to answer on the track. That’s how you improve, not by having as much money as possible.
And if I have a child who wants to get into motorsport? I don’t necessarily need it, but I would certainly help try to make the dream come true. I see it with fellow driver Nico Hülkenberg, a friend of mine. His son Fynn is about five or six years old. He also drives a kart. With a helmet that’s almost bigger than he is. To be honest: it looks very cute, money can’t compete with that. It’s wonderful to see!
