But Formula One is on another level in terms of safety compared with a lot of formulas and even junior formulas".
McLaren's team principal Ron Dennis also makes the point that any ambitious youngster who wishes to tackle formula one must also race in Europe in the junior formulae.
This year the drivers are Vitantonio Liuzzi, an Italian, and Narain Karthikeyan, an Indian who raced at the Jordan team several years ago and at Kolles's teams in the junior formulas.
He made his debut for the BMW Sauber team in 2006 after eye-catching victories in the junior formulas, the traditional testing ground for emerging talent.
There are many promising British drivers jostling to make themselves noticed in the various junior formulae, although none for the moment in the prohibitively expensive GP2 series which is Formula One's key feeder formula.
The biggest challenge facing the next generation of stars is raising the money necessary to battle through the junior formulae before they even reach the threshold of the world championship.
The most recent grand prix here was in 2003 and I never came here in the junior formulae.
His record in the junior formulae meant his arrival in F1 was highly anticipated, and in his debut season, with the Toleman team in 1984, he did not disappoint.
His performances in the junior formulae did not attract the support of a major organisation or senior figure, as did those, for example, of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in their younger days.
He battled lack of finance through the junior formulae, where his determination was obvious from an early stage - he broke his neck in a crash in Formula Ford but, despite being told by doctors that he was lucky not to be paralysed, discharged himself from hospital and returned to racing.
On a recent afternoon, a dozen boxes of Nutren Junior, the liquid formula they are fed as they sleep, were stacked against a wall in the kitchen.
