Rookie F1 aspiring drivers can now buy FP1 seats for a staggering $3,500,000

Every driver who starts with go-karting, wants to be a F1 driver. While many become successful, others do not find the luck or opportunity to do so. F1, being the pinnacle of motorsport, and every driver's dream, is not easy to be in. Besides the seats being extremely rare, an FP1 seat can cost a driver as much as $3,500,000!

Moving from F2 to F1 is not only a hard nut to crack, but also an expensive one. As per reports, a driver has to shell out millions of dollars for a seat in Free Practices, and that too for one session.

Formula 1 teams need millions of dollars to run the team throughout the season, and as a result, the charge for a single session for a rookie driver can reach millions. In a recent report by MotorsportWeek, McLaren charged Ryu Hirakawa $3.5 million (£2.6 million) to participate in FP1 during the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP.

Hirakawa, a Toyota Factory driver in the World Endurance Championship paid the mammoth amount for FP1, which also included two TPCs (Testing of Previous Cars). The Japanese driver finished the one-hour long session in P14, after completing 19 laps, with 1:25.874 as his best time.

He was over 1.5 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc, the driver who was in P1 at the FP1. Besides Hirakawa, multiple rookies also took part in the FP1 at the Abu Dhabi GP, such as Felipe Drugovich in Aston Martin, Ayumu Iwasa in Racing Bulls, Arthur Leclerc in Ferrari, and Luke Browning in Williams.

Every F1 team has to allow two sessions per season to non-regular drivers. It not only allows the driver to understand the technology and knowhow of the cars they might race in the future, but also allow the teams to charge a sizeable amount from the drivers.

A sneak peek into United States F1 GP FP1

Formula 1 returned to the United States for the second US race of the season, the US GP at Austin, Texas. Lando Norris of McLaren topped the session with 1:33.294 time on the sheet.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull after claiming the sprint pole at the 2025 F1 United States GP on Friday - Source: Getty Images

Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri managed the top 3. In the Sprint qualifying, Max Verstappen claimed the pole, ahead of Norris. Championship leader Oscar Piastri set P3 for him on Friday.

After 18 races and three sprints, Oscar Piastri is leading the Drivers' Championship with 336 points. His teammate, Lando Norris is breathing down his neck with 314 points. Defending champion, Max Verstappen is with 273 points. McLaren has already clinched the Constructors' Championship in Singapore.

Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas