Grooming F1 drivers has pitfalls

By Brad Spurgeon
Updated October 8 2014 - 10:08am, first published September 20 2014 - 8:39pm

The concept of a formula one team taking a young driver from go-karting or the lower levels of car racing and nurturing his career, paying his racing costs and grooming him to reach the pinnacle of auto racing is hardly new. It has been going on for decades, and careers have come and gone – including  one of the greatest of them, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who was once part of the Mercedes junior team.