1. Do all drivers go through special training before becoming a full-fledged F1 driver?
From: Wu Pei Rong, Pri 6, Jurong Primary
Hi Pei Rong, that’s a really good question. Are you thinking of becoming a driver yourself? Well the short answer is no. there’s no special training, but instead, the drivers are “practicing” to become an F1 driver from as early as 6 years old. Most drivers start off go karting, and from there they move up into a junior formula 1 car, like Formula BMW (which you can watch during the Singapore GP). All these junior formula cars, look like smaller F1 cars and as the driver competes in the series, he’s constantly learning how to drive. Each time he wins a series he moves up to another one with a more powerful car. Almost like a computer game where you start with a basic go kart and then as you win championships, you get upgraded to more powerful, more complicated machinery. By the time a driver arrives in F1, he’s probably been driving a single seater car for at least 6 to 10 years. So that’s a lot of time spent practicing.

2. What qualities do you find in a good F1 driver?
From: Yeoh Hong Yao, Pri 6, Concord Primary School
Hi Hong Yao, the best drivers in Formula 1 that I’ve interviewed, from Lewis Hamilton to Michael Schumacher to Fernando Alonso all have one glaring thing in common. They are all selfish. I know it’s not a nice thing to say but I think it’s a quality that is inherent if you want to be the best at what you do. Don’t get me wrong, they are all extremely nice guys and very polite but Formula 1 is a very ruthless world and they need to be selfish in order to ensure that they always get the best opportunities to get them ahead of everyone else, including their team mate. A positive characteristic that I’ve noticed is that they are extremely focus on what they want, which makes them more determined to go out and get it no matter what. They are also extremely meticulous about what they do, and often I’m sure you’ve seen lewis get out of the car after qualifying and whilst waiting to weigh himself, he’ll start looking at the data screens to see where he was slow and who was faster than them. These guys will invest whatever you ask of them and sacrifice almost anything to be world champion and in return, they you can bet that when they get in the car, they will give you 110 percent.