"Karting is so expensive” - Mohammed ben Sulayem wants to ‘reduce costs’ in order to grow motorsports

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem is looking forward to making kart racing cheaper and thus more accessible for young enthusiasts.

F1 and other motorsports are undoubtedly expensive. It has been estimated that it costs thousands of dollars just to stay with a team in karting, which is the basic level of racing. All the professional racers have prior karting experience.

But because of the expenses, it remains almost impossible for many enthusiasts. It is hard to say approximately how many youngsters lose out on the opportunity solely because of the finances.

Keeping that in mind, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem seeks to 'reduce the costs' spent in motorsports. He believes this initiative will fuel the sport's growth.

"Karting is so expensive. Therefore, we want to standardise the specifications and reduce the costs. We want to see motorsport grow," he said, according to Motorsport-Total.com.

Making motorsports or even just karting cheaper could mean that there would be a lot of opportunities for people. There is a requirement for major financial aid to get into motorsports. This is because of multiple reasons, including the costs of karts, their parts and taking part in recognized competitions.

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem insists on finding new ways to promote F1

F1 gained a lot of traction among the US audience after the release of the Netflix show 'Drive to Survive.' So much so that there are now three Grands Prix held in America alone: Miami, Las Vegas and Austin, Texas.

Despite this spike in viewership, Mohammed Ben Sulayem feels that the sport needs to be innovative with its promotion.

"I think we cannot rely on our current success. We must always think about the future," he told Motorsport.com.

Ben Sulayem further said that F1 needs to adapt to newer ways to attract more people since they can't "just rely on Netflix"

"Formula 1 has existed for 74 years and during this time it has gone through many phases and crisis, but it has always survived and today seems stronger than ever. And for it to continue like this, Formula 1 has to adapt."

"We can’t just rely on Netflix to attract people. The new generation wants to learn about motorsport. You can’t do things like before."

F1 has been promoting itself in recent years with the new Grands Prix being introduced. Even many called the Las Vegas GP in the 2023 season a "promotional" race because of the hype built around it.