McLaren signs 14-year-old kart racer

[WhiteBlue]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81009?

McLaren has signed 14-year-old kart racer Nyck de Vries for the team's young driver development programme.

The Dutch driver will be managed by Anthony Hamilton, Lewis's father, and the Hamilton Management Group throughout his racing career in different categories.

So this is presumably Lewis Hamilton's successor in the cart teen scheme? And Anthony Hamilton is running the program! De Vries will have sold his services for a decade or more I guess. How do we see these kind of deals?

On the pro side you have the promotion of young driver talent which may be in danger to fall by the way side if not nurtured.

On the con side you totally destort the playing field by supporting these guys to a degree that is not available to 99% of their peers. It also locks them into long term contracts with managers who have overlapping interests with their employers. Flavio Briatore has demonstrated how bad such things can turn out.

The bottom line for me is more cons than pros. I don't like it much.

[sticky667]

I say good job to the kid for signing up.. you're right that 99% of his peers will never have this sort of treatment. That's part of the reason we only have 26 seats on the grid and the drivers move around between the teams during their careers. F1 is catered to the privileged few. We saw that with the driver selection this past few months and it was blatantly obvious, money talks.

[Paul]

And he didn't win it in a lottery or something. I find it only good when talent is spotted early and supported, especially in such an expensive sport.

[ISLAMATRON]

Just as with Hamilton, the kid wouldnt have been signed if he didnt have the goods, he has probly thus far earned it and will need to continue to earn it from now on.

Whether this will guarantee him better equipment in the lower formula is debateable, but he still has to win(and beat his teammate to do that).

I hope he isnt Hamilton's replacement, maybe JB's replacement, or JB's replacement's replacement.

[xpensive]

I'm with WB here, believe it or not. In other sports, you have an age-limit for "drafting", like in Icehockey.

Antony Hamilton's management doesn't make things any better in my view.

[jon-mullen]

Fourteen year-olds can sign contracts over there?

[ISLAMATRON]

Fourteen year-olds can sign contracts over there?

They can in US too, remember Freddie Adou, just gotta have parents consent.

[WhiteBlue]

I like the way BMW support the sport with the BMW formula. As long as they were in F1 the winner also got an F1 test. These activities help young people with their driving.

[mcdenife]

I'm with WB here, believe it or not. In other sports, you have an age-limit for "drafting", like in Icehockey.

Antony Hamilton's management doesn't make things any better in my view.

So in your view, is the problem with Antony Hamilton's management, any management or the boy's age?

[ISLAMATRON]

What about the kids with great talent but without the resources, should their parents be made to mortgage the house to keep the kid in the sport?

The kid is a karting champion already and has earned a chance at some backing to move up to the next level.

I think its great.

[WhiteBlue]

I'm with WB here, believe it or not. In other sports, you have an age-limit for "drafting", like in Icehockey.

Antony Hamilton's management doesn't make things any better in my view.

So in your view, is the problem with Antony Hamilton's management, any management or the boy's age?

Indeed I see a problem with these kind of contracts locking young people into 15 year contracts. This is aggravated if the manager has another function in the team like Briatore had or has overlapping interests with the team as Hamilton has.

I think the FIA should put a time limit to management or team contracts which makes them expire three years after the first super license is issued. Driver managers should not be allowed to associate with teams.

[xpensive]

I think signing a 14 year old to any management contract is is doubtful at best, while if it's a kick-back from
McLaren to the Hamilton-clan, even worse.

[segedunum]

Far too much, far too young - and those pictures are just plain cringeworthy. 14 is far, far, far too young to be signing anyone to a management contract. He's just far too young to be able to judge properly and he hasn't been through anywhere near enough in his life experience to see how good he might be. Most decent footballers at 14 fall by the wayside when they reach 17 or 18 and clubs signing players that young has proved to be a waste of time and money.

Lewis Hamilton was a huge longshot that just about paid off in the end that is unlikely to happen again (it very nearly didn't at various points). Given what's happening to these young drivers and karters now and the kind of racing environment they are coming into I despair at racing ever being able to give us another Jim Clark, Prost, Senna or Schumacher. The conditions just aren't right now for drivers like that to come through and gain the life experience they did and become what they became. That's probably why we have had people like Piquet Junior and Grosjean in Formula One and why there is a media frenzy about the return of a former World Champion, now into his forties.

Could you see control freak drivers like Senna, Prost or Schumacher accepting being a hostage to fortune with a management company? Senna was actually offered a seat at McLaren years before he eventually went there - if he accepted McLaren's terms and raced in a lower formula. He had no hesitation in refusing, even if he had to pack up and go back to Brazil. Even Jim Clark thought the motor racing future was so uncertain that he would only sign from year to year. We're a world away from those days now.

The talent pool is pretty thin at the moment, and I don't think things like this help to be perfectly honest.

[Richard]

I worry about the conflict of interest between personal and team managers. I also abhor the domination of agents in some of our sports, hence Button's ill advised career moves.

As for age, the EU forced the football (soccer) authorities into some sensible compromises. As I recall .... a 14 year old youngster can only be signed until 16, and they can only sign to a team that is within 2 hours of their family home. The number of hours and days training is limited, and they have to have schooling. I recall that there are get out clauses in the youngster's favour. At 16 the player is then a free agent. Obviously most sign for the same club, but the point is that they don't have to.

I also recall that tighter rules apply for under 14s - ie more in the kids favour.

Being an EU led initiative I'd expect other sports to adopt similar processes.

As I said, that is all from recollection, I'm open to correction!

[axle]

I'd personally prefer to see a series supported financially by an F1 team rather than an individual. This aides people without a serious budget to prove they have what it takes.

However lets not forget that Hamilton Snr held down 3 jobs at one point to give his son the opportunities he needed to get McLaren's attention.