Formula One / David Croft / 14 August 2009 /

As Felipe Massa continues to recover from a life-threatening crash and uber-fit seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has been told he is no longer fit enough to race, David Croft considers just how tough physically and mentally it is to compete at this level.

Next week in Valencia, now that Michael Schumacher's neck has stopped him making the comeback to end all comebacks, Luca Badoer (ten years after he last raced) will get the chance to break his Formula 1 duck. At the 49th time of asking, the man who has raced more times than any other driver yet to score a point, will take to the track once more. Hence proving that if you stick around long enough your second chance will come.

It's not a second chance though that he, nor anybody else in the F1 paddock expected. But in truth, once Schumacher called his return off what options did Ferrari have? They could have turned to their other test driver Marc Gene, but he hasn't raced since 2004 so is much of a muchness in comparison.

One thing is for certain, anyone who thought that driving a modern day F1 car was a piece of cake, will have revised their opinions in light of the 7 time world champion's failed attempts to come out of retirement. There was a day when a Formula 1 driver would drink and smoke his way around the world, pausing only for a couple of hours from time to time to go out and win a race. Now the modern day pilots have a 365 day a year fitness regime that they stick to, religiously. That way they can cope with the demands placed on their body whilst cornering at around 150mph, experiencing G-forces of 4.5. That's what the drivers suffer whilst tackling the infamous Turn 8 in Turkey, a corner that lasts for roughly 8 seconds. In layman's terms, each driver has to put up with around 36kg of force pressing against his head whilst negotiating the four apex turn complete with bumps. Not exactly simple now, especially when you factor into the equation the hot temperatures usually raced in and the extra work that goes on in the cockpit.

Michael Schumacher for instance, would have also had to compute when and where to depress his KERS button - that extra 80bhp his Ferrari gets for 6.6 seconds a lap. He would also be altering his brake bias during each lap, adjusting the angle of his front wing and the mix of fuel powering the car. It's not just a case of putting a foot on the throttle and turning the wheel. In today's F1 the driver barely has a second to relax throughout the 70 odd laps of each Grand Prix.

So it takes time to adjust to the demands of these cars. Time, that in this low cost era where testing has been severely restricted, new drivers don't really have. Take Jaime Algersuari for instance. Torro Rosso parachuted him into the thick of the action in Hungary before he'd even completed a day's track testing. He'd already proved himself to be a decent peddler by winning the British F3 championship, a good route to F1 as the likes of Senna, Barrichello and even Takuma Sato have shown over the years. But even so, the step up to racing at this level was a mighty one to take and although he equipped himself well in Budapest, it was hardly ideal.

Most drivers start out in Karting of course, that's where they learn their race craft. Lewis Hamilton for instance developed his skills for late breaking in his Karting years. From there the route to the top will be as direct or complicated as money allows. It's a sad fact that however talented the driver, if he can't raise the budget to progress through the single seater ranks, he'll struggle. GP2 is thought of as being the feeder series for F1, but at around £2.5 million per driver per season, only the rich or those lucky enough to get a decent sponsorship can take part. F2 works out at around £250,000 a year. Much more reasonable and it will be interesting to see who makes the graduation.

Next week, once Renault's exclusion from the European Grand Prix is lifted, Romain Grosjean should make his F1 debut. The Swiss born Frenchman has impressed at times in GP2, winning the Asia series in it's first year. But he's far from ready given what I've seen during the course of this season. The pressure is on then for the man who will replace Nelson Piquet. He'll be driving alongside a double world champion in Fernando Alonso and all eyes will be on him to see if he's up to the job. From what I've seen this season, I'm not sure, but I wish him well. Because if the sport continues to limit, through finance or a lack of testing opportunities, natural progression to it, then Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer won't be the last old timers called on to help a team in need.

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