General
Injustice: A non-talent in F2, while a star driver without money sits out
- Ludo van Denderen
Unfortunately, the money ran out. Zak O'Sullivan had to announce at the beginning of the week, much to his disappointment, that he would not be competing in Formula 2 for the rest of the season simply because he no longer had the budget to fund his seat at ART. So how would the Brit, also part of the Williams Academy, have looked at the struggling Niels Koolen, a Dutch driver who was 10 seconds slower than the fastest in free practice and almost seven seconds slower in qualifying?
Niels Koolen is a friendly young man, but let's be honest: If you are so off the pace, you have no place in a field with the world's greatest motorsport juniors. His team, AIX Racing, won't deny it either: The only reason Koolen gets to race two weekends is because his father - who made a fortune selling Booking.com - made a huge financial contribution, money that AIX could put to good use. Because even the German team knew in advance that Koolen had never finished in the points in single seaters in his career (knowing that in Indy NXT, you also get points if you compete).
Koolen complied with regulations
What Koolen showed in the two sessions in Baku was laughable and uncomfortable at the same time. Ten seconds slower than the number one in free practice, the second-last classified was still five seconds faster than the Dutchman. Things improved in qualifying, but his performance was still shameful. GPblog asked Formula 2 organisers on Friday for a reaction to Koolen's performance. A spokesman revealed, "Per the 2024 Sporting Regulations, Niels Koolen has qualified within the 107%. He has not displayed any kind of dangerous driving. Therefore, he will race," was the response.
The fact that Koolen can compete in F2 feels unfair. Especially in the knowledge that O'Sullivan, a driver who won two races in F2 this season (and moreover compete in the FP1 at Abu Dhabi on behalf of Williams in late 2023) has now disappeared from the scene because he lacks financial backing. In an interview - to be published shortly on GPblog - Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel states that he has never seen a driver fail to progress in motorsport due to a lack of money.
At the same time, the Frenchman says during the interview that it is "a bit unfair" to say that some drivers are so-called pay drivers; drivers who are allowed to compete not because of their qualities but thanks to a hefty sponsorship fee. Unfortunately, last weekend proved that the reality is different.
Formula 1 drivers are worried
Last Thursday, Fernando Alonso was asked about O'Sullivan being forced to drop out due to financial reasons. He felt that motorsport has become "extremely expensive". "I think karting became a little bit too much," the Spaniard said. "200,000, 250,000 for a season in karting now, it doesn't seem like a logical starting point for any motorsport enthusiast. It's not an easy fix. And I don't know how it could be policed in a way. But I think we are all concerned about that."
Pierre Gasly even went a step further. The French Alpine driver thinks motorsport should take action to reduce the cost for future talent. "I think we are making a lot of improvements with integrity, diversity, etc, but definitely need a step in that direction in cost reduction to give more opportunities to more kids. Because even on a personal level, I had very good friends in karting who were very talented and ultimately stopped after Formula 4 because they could not afford the prices moving up. Hopefully, as a sport, we can tackle that issue," Gasly said.
Unfortunately, that has not been sorted out overnight and we have to sit back and watch Niels Koolen in action twice more this weekend in Baku. Let's hope Zak O'Sullivan then gets his seat.