Is there a danger of F1 becoming the best rich drivers?

The Formula 1 season is heading towards a potentially thrilling climax with six races to decide the outcome of the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Before this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your questions on the key topics in the sport.

What would be seen as six excellent races for Liam Lawson at RB? Just beating Yuki Tsunoda or matching Sergio Perez? – Katherine

Liam Lawson’s return to a race seat for the final six races of the season with Red Bull’s RB team is an audition for 2025 – the only question is for which team.

Although Sergio Pérez some months ago signed a new contract with Red Bull that lasts until the end of 2026, he is under pressure for his seat after a series of unconvincing performances.

It is pretty much locked in that Lawson will at the very least be in an RB race seat next season.

For the New Zealander to be considered for a Red Bull drive alongside Max Verstappen, the very least he needs to do is beat team-mate Yuki Tsunoda on a consistent basis.

If he can’t do that, he won’t get the Red Bull drive. If he can, then it will be up to team principal Christian Horner and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko to assess whether they think he would do a better job in the senior team next year than Perez.

Given the disparity between the two cars, Lawson should not realistically be able to beat Perez on track for the rest of the season. If he does, that would be very bad news for the Mexican’s career.

Now that Toyota is a technical partner with Haas, how will Ferrari react to Toyota having access to their engine tech? – Jon

Toyota does not have access to Ferrari’s engine technology because of this deal.

The Japanese car company has become a technical partner for Haas. The team gets to benefit from some of Toyota’s resources, and Toyota have a foot in the door of F1, which gives them an opportunity to allow their drivers and engineers to get a taste of the highest level of motorsport.

One of the driving factors behind this deal for Toyota is that it has found in recent years that it was missing out on the best engineers and drivers in Japan to Honda, because Honda’s presence in F1 was making it more appealing.

So this allows Toyota to show that they, too, have a presence in F1 and therefore could be a way in.

So expect some of Toyota’s junior drivers to get tests and practice sessions in a Haas, for example, and for some Toyota engineers to join the team.

But Ferrari’s engine IP remains Ferrari’s alone.

How long are drivers members of F1 teams’ junior programmes before getting into F1? Are junior programmes helping those with less wealth? – Anne

There is no fixed timescale for a driver on a junior scheme to get into F1. It entirely depends on the promise they show.

The better they look, the faster they progress. And many simply don’t make it, of course, even when they are on a junior programme.

Generally, when teams pick drivers for their junior programmes, they do it on talent, not wealth.

But the question does raise a live issue in motorsport right now. The junior categories – right down to karting – are getting increasingly expensive.

And there is a concern that many people are being priced out – that motorsport is heading in a direction where it might end up being not the best drivers who make it to F1, but the best rich drivers.

It’s a concern Lewis Hamilton has raised, and it’s one the sport’s bosses are aware of. So far, there is not a huge amount of evidence of them doing much about it, though.

Fernando Alonso has an interesting perspective on the lack of safety cars. Does it hold versus an analysis of the first half of 2024 with the same cars? – Paul

There has not been a safety car in Formula 1 since the Canadian Grand Prix – so, not for nine races.

Fernando Alonso’s theory for why this is the case is as follows: “These cars are not easy to drive, but I think the problem of these cars as well is to extract the 100%.

“So if you drive at 90%, sometimes you are faster because you don’t put the platform in an inconvenient angle or ride heights. You are not pushing the limits, where everything falls apart.

“That’s why sometimes in the races, because we all drive at 90%, we have to take care of the tyres, the fuel economy, all these kind of things, we don’t see too many problems and we don’t see too many safety cars or accidents.”

Far be it from me to argue with Alonso – and I’m not going to. It’s quite possible this has been an influence in the lack of safety cars.

The thing is, though, that has been the case in races for quite a long time.

Because Pirelli tyres overheat if they are pushed hard, drivers have been managing their pace in races for years. With the odd very rare exception, drivers have not been flat out in races since Pirelli entered F1 in 2011.

As for the lack of safety cars, sometimes these things just happen and it’s a statistical quirk. Lots of factors are involved.

Take Singapore, for example. Lando Norris had two very near misses with the wall on his way to victory. Had he got either of those very slightly more wrong than he did, not only would he not have won, but there would have been a safety car.

On top of that, the last time there was a safety car also happens to be the last time there was a wet race – that, too, will have a lot to do with it.

Canada was mixed conditions. The safety car in Miami was caused by Max Verstappen dislodging a bollard as he began to struggle with his car.

There will be another safety car soon enough.

Who are the most likely candidates to get the spare seat in the Sauber team next year – Nigel

It seems that Sauber are choosing from their current driver Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto, who has starred since joining Williams at the Italian Grand Prix, Formula 2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto and ex-Haas driver Mick Schumacher.

As all the other teams are sorted, Audi/Sauber can take their time – and are doing.

Audi chief operating and chief technical officer Mattia Binotto told BBC Sport: “We don’t have any rush. We have got our time to discuss internally to agree and make the proper decision, and the balance between an experienced driver who may help the team move on into the near future and knowing it will take multi years to come to our final goal and objective. Or look for a rookie who maybe will need to be developed. Those are the two options.”

He said they would decide “hopefully by the end of the month, or mid-November latest”.