Why is it that every top-tier driver these days found their start in karting? For a start, they’re relatively affordable, they’re incredibly physical, and they can be stepped into at a very young age. With Cadet karts available to tykes as young as five, there’s no better way to get started driving fast – so fathers of the world, beware – when your son asks for a kart in elementary school, know that there’s a good chance it can start a very long, tiring, and infectious journey. However, it seems that to become a professional these days, that early start is imperative.

Fernando (top) and Jenson (bottom) compete with McLaren’s new talent, Stoffel Vandoorne (right).

Fernando Alonso, arguably the most talented driver currently on the F1 grid notes, “Karting is the only category in motorsport where you can start at a young age.” Even though he, and all of the other McLaren Grand Prix stars featured here started very young, the racing appeals to drivers of every age. “There’s a reason we went karting – it wasn’t just for fun – before motor racing, before single seaters. A lot of your racecraft and understanding your vehicle starts at a very young age,” chimes in 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button. Mika Hakkinen lends his take as well, noting the “constant corrections” one has to make when piloting one of these nervous monsters. No wonder F1 drivers have such amazing reactions.

The short wheelbase, lack of downforce, huge amounts of mechanical grip (that tire both Mika and David after a few laps), and respectable power-to-weight ratio make the diminutive karts agile, grippy, nervous, and incredibly demanding both on one’s own and dicing in a pack. It’s obvious, observing the various drivers I’ve seen in my time, that those who get started at an early age have a definite advantage when it comes to passing – almost a sixth sense.

Since we’ve learned lately that speed is only part of becoming a high-class driver, and racecraft is just as important, if not more so, there’s no reason an ambitious driver shouldn’t have a kart, even if just for practicing. These stars swear by it.

If it helped Senna cultivate his talent, karting is good enough for anyone.