Formula 3 (F3) driver Shin Woo-hyun candidly revealed the reality of motorsports, where you pour money in before making money.
On the night of the 17th, the MBC variety show Omniscient Interfering View featured Shin Woo-hyun, who competes on the F3 stage, and his manager and mother, who appeared together to reveal the intense daily life of racing.
That day, Shin Woo-hyun answered realistically to the question, "Isn't there talk that if you win in F1 the team prize money reaches hundreds of billions of won and drivers' salaries are enormous?" He said, "In reality, the level where you get paid to race is almost exclusively F1," and added, "F3 or F2 have prize money, but at most it's around 2 million to 3 million won."
He went on to explain, "The cost to enter a single race is about the price of a compact car," and "while some is covered through sponsors, basically it's a stage endured with F1 as the goal." When Jun Hyun-moo reacted, "You hardly think about making money," Shin Woo-hyun replied firmly, "That's right. It's a process aimed only at F1."
The cost burden did not end there. Shin Woo-hyun said, "Because so much money is involved, fines are also unimaginably large," and "because all team radios are broadcast, a single profanity can result in fines from tens of millions of won up to nearly 100 million won," which stirred the studio. Being late to the race venue was no exception. He added, "If you're late there's an immediate fine, and that amount is about 3 million won."
Jun Hyun-moo clicked his tongue and said, "You would be spending far more than you earn," and the cast members also reacted, "It's too brutal to call it a dream stage."
The F3 in which Shin Woo-hyun is currently competing is a key step on the official roadmap toward F1. It is a single-spec series that uses the same chassis and engine, a stage where a driver's pure skill and race management ability determine results more than capital. That is why every season it is regarded as a gateway where F1 teams directly evaluate the next generation of talent.
Meanwhile, Shin Woo-hyun, born in 2004, is a driver from the well-known Hyundai family in Korea's business community. Known as a nephew of the Hyundai Motor Group owner family, he is drawing attention for choosing a path in the formula racing world that is judged more by individual skill and results than by family backing in a sport that requires huge expenses. <
[Photo] MBC "Omniscient Interfering View" broadcast screen capture
[OSEN]