'Pay' drivers: Destroying talented drivers' dreams
“Yamamoto has proven to be a waste of space”
The Williams situation
Nico Hulkenburg was highly regarded as an exceptional talent before he made his move into F1 and although he has not necessarily had the chance to prove it this year we have certainly seen glimpses of excellence and as Sir Frank Williams puts it “a future world champion.” But before the Young German has even finished a season speculation has grown that Williams could give a drive to a ‘pay’ driver, Pastor Maldonado. Sure Williams have been having troubles (as underlined by Martin Porter’s most recent ‘Bite Point’ article) but is it really that bad that a team with such history and respect have to resort to hiring a ‘pay’ driver?
Hulkenburg is an amazing talent and Williams can not afford to loose him. Maldonado would probably help Williams out in the short run but at the end of the day the way F1 teams maximise their profits is by creating results. Hulkenburg has the talent to provide these results; Maldonado does not (as we saw when they were competing in GP2). President of the FIA, Nicholas Todt, has also revealed fear that ‘pay’ drivers are destroying the chances of many talented young drivers.
F1 2010
This season in particular we have seen the arrival of two ‘pay’ drivers; Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and HRT’s Sakon Yamamoto. Both of these drivers paid their way into F1 but at least Petrov has shown some talent both in his GP2 days and in his F1 careers so far. Yamamoto has proven to be the opposite, a waste of space. He came into F1 and has replaced the popular Karun Chandhok for no benefit to the team other than financial aid.
It is true that Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher began their careers as ‘pay’ drivers but they also had results to prove their worth to the team, not just financially but out on the track where it really matters.
What would become of F1?
‘pay’ drivers that can not provide results are a bane on the name of Formula 1. Soon F1 would become whoever has the most money races and the talent and passion of Formula 1 would decrease. HRT in particular need to build some respect and hiring ‘pay’ drivers as well and constantly changing their line up is not the way of doing it.
Posted by Sean Russell - Follow him on twitter @SeanRussellF1.
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Last Comment Posted »
I'm a fence sitter at the best of times but I tend to agree with Sean on this one.
I don't have a big problem with pay drivers, and think some of...
by MartyP
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Recent comments on this article:
#1 Hannah | 5 Nov 2010, 16:54 Reply »
I take the opposite view - I believe pay drivers are important for Formula One in the long run. Williams are losing 4 main sponsors for next year and that's obviously going to hit them hard. Certainly the fact that they're looking at a pay driver suggests this. What's the point of keeping on a driver if the team becomes bankrupt and has to pull out of f1? In my eyes it's more important for Formula One to keep names with such history (like Williams) in the sport, than worry so much about what the view of this is.
'He came into F1 and has replaced the popular Karun Chandhok for no benefit to the team other than financial aid.' - if the team hadn't needed the money they wouldn't have replaced a decent driver with someone like Yamamoto. As for changing the driver's around, while it may not be ideal or a popular view, the team are probably doing what they need to survive. There's talk of a new financial backer for HRT so they're looking at a much more financially secure future in the sport so they should be able to put decent drivers back in the car.
At the end of the day it's about doing what you can to survive as a team, and if a paydriver can help keep the team in the sport (therefore helping in the long run) then I say do it!
#2 Jimmy@enterF1 | 5 Nov 2010, 20:54 Reply »
I agree with both of you so i'm on the fence a bit. Its true that these teams have to survive so paid for drives are tempting for bosses.... but it's not future proof if you don't have a paid driver massively under performing... Sakon......
I just can't make my mind up about Petrov as to whether i'd renew his contract for next year
#3 Sadhbh | 5 Nov 2010, 22:29 Reply »
I am with James on the fencein some ways pay drivers like take away the chances of the good drivers. Sakon Yamamoto is a prime example and I am so glad Klien is taking over him this weekend. HRT have had serious money problems and as much as I hate to say it Yamamoto has probably done more good then bad.
However, Most drivers start in some sort of pay situation and Eddie Jordan says he would never have signed Michael Schumacher if he wasnt bringing in money.
Maldonado isn't a bad driver, but I would like to see Hulkenburg stay in F1 he has a bit more determination.
With regards to Petrov, I still believe I would sign him. He could be like Massa very tempremental he just needs a guiding hand. I don't think his hand has been shown yet.
#4 Rhys (lightmas) | 5 Nov 2010, 23:26 Reply »
Well the simple answer is yes, but there answers are rarely simple. The complex answer is yes, but thats what we are stuck with sadly. Hopefully it will go circle again in a few years.
As for Nico, it would be such a shame if he lost his seat to Pastor. He just needs more time. Frank is a racer, so if Pastor is in the car, its because he has to be
So to sum up, yes, pay drivers are destroying some talented drivers teams, however, some good may come of it (Niki Luda :) ) and the names mentioned in your article Sean. However, they are needed at present.
#5 Rajat Khandelwal | 6 Nov 2010, 07:28 Reply »
I think though pay drivers may prove to be worthy ,teams should not resort to hiring drivers for money as most of them are a waste of space & money .This is a very situation for talented drivers who are not financially strong & the teams should instead nurture drivers not hire them for money .The FIA oufght to make rules against this pay-for-seat .
#6 MartyP | 7 Nov 2010, 09:32 Reply »
I'm a fence sitter at the best of times but I tend to agree with Sean on this one.
I don't have a big problem with pay drivers, and think some of them don't get the credit they actually deserve (after all, they're still brilliantly talented). I also like Hannah's point that some teams are simply doing what they must to survive, and we're better off having pay drivers if it means the smaller teams survive.
However, deep down I'd like to think that the 24 guys on the grid are the 24 best drivers in the world – not the 19 best with a few ring-ins. It's a shame that guys like Anthony Davidson and Paul Di Resta are sitting on the sidelines simply because they don't have Yamamoto's budget.
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