Dubai: UAE-based racing driver Ed Jones is refusing to get carried away despite his recent European F3 Open Championship win.
The 18-year-old UAE-born Briton won the eight stage F3 drivers’ championship last week in Barcelona, winning six of the series’ 16 races, with ten podiums, while representing the UAE.
Victory leaves him just two steps away from getting into Formula One, with the FIA European F3 Championship and the World Series by Renault targeted as future possible stepping stones.
However, Jones is remaining realistic about his future prospects, especially as he will need to find Dh6 million to step up in class, as opposed to the Dh4 million spent this season. It’s all a far cry from his karting days when it cost between Dh120,000 to Dh400,000 a season, when he started racing at Jebel Ali aged five.
“It’s really easy to get carried away,” said the six-time UAE karting champion, who stands to the UAE flag and anthem on the podium. “But you have to be realistic. If things continue as they are — there’s no reason why I shouldn’t stand a chance of getting into F1. But so many other factors control whether you make it, not least sponsorship. Without financial support it’s difficult.
“A lot of people look at F1 stars and say they only got there because they had lots of sponsorship money. They forget the championships they had to win to get to the top. To get into F1 you, of course, have to be fast enough, but the difference between those who make it and those who don’t is ultimately money.”
Local companies have so far been hesitant to get behind Jones because he’s not a UAE national. However, the former Dubai College student believes those who support him will in turn be helping the local racing community here make an F1 breakthrough.
“I proved that a UAE resident, such as myself, can perform to such levels in Europe,” said Jones, who competed in the Formula BMW InterSteps Championship and the EuroCup Formula Renault Series, between karting and F3.
“UAE motorsport needs someone like me to help bring Emirati nationals along. At the moment there’s no-one experienced enough with the capability to move forward, it will take quite a few years until they find that.
“They need to make a programme whereby an Emirati comes alongside me and they can learn from me and I can help share my experiences with them and show them the way forward.
“We need steps to make it easier for people from the region to move onto Europe. We did it by ourselves and struggled. But the more we support and give people the opportunity, the more likely we will find someone who is able to make it.”
