“Pay driver scenario a big worry for F1” – Massa

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Felipe Massa is concerned more are more teams are requiring drivers to bring budgets to race for them.

Massa, who is looked for a drive for next season, said: “in Formula One I always operated as a professional driver, paid to race and I never brought money to pay for my drive and that is something that will not change now”.

“Bringing a sponsor has never been part of my career,” he added, “It doesn’t mean I can’t help the team to find a sponsor, but not as a condition for my getting the drive.”

Massa said it reflects poorly on F1 that drivers are getting seats based on money rather than talent: “The pay-driver scenario is a big worry for Formula One. Formula One is a top world sport up against other sports at this level.

“It’s a shame to imagine a young driver who has the talent, the ability to be in F1 and maybe be world champion but not get a chance to race. Or that a driver already in F1 can lose his place to another with a lot less talent but he has the money. But it’s been like that for a while now.”

Massa added he was concerned Brazil could be left without a representative on the grid if he fails to find a seat for next year.

“It’s very important for Brazil to have a driver, a successful driver in Formula One. Now, I’m the only one and I still don’t have a contract for next year.

“If I’m not racing next year, or if there is no other Brazilian on the grid, it would be a big loss for the country.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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76 comments on ““Pay driver scenario a big worry for F1” – Massa”

  1. I don’t care much for Brazil not having an F1 driver next year. But I completely agree that its not good if the sport on the one hand turns it back on places where they could get a solid crowd to race in places like Abu Dhabi, and on the other hand teams all over the grid are struggling to make ends meet.
    As its now, only 3 teams can afford the spending war, a 4th can hold its own and a 5th seems to be hanging on but losing out. The rest of the grid is just treading water (I include STR, because I am sure that the biggest reason for not selling it is, that there are no buyers to be found)

    1. @bascb, and yet F1 is making more than enough money to support the teams and pay the drivers, the only reason that the participants in F1 are under such financial pressure is the greed and cunning of 1 man whose business ethics are questionable at best.

      1. @hohum absolutely, however I have a feeling that more prize money wouldn’t really resolve the spending war – it would just mean all players have more money, hence nullifying the change.

        1. @vettel1, taking pay drivers is a survival strategy not a success strategy and the top teams already have enough money to build the fastest car they are capable of, yet the cas strapped Enstone team were able to challenge 3 of the top 4 so I do not think that is entirely true.
          If F1 really wanted to cut expenditure they could return to earlier formats where they did not need a pit crew of 20 highly trained people to change tyres and they only used a fraction of the number of tyres they use now, alternately they could compromise and follow the US example of limited numbers of crew working in pit lane, and that is just one area they could easily save money without favoring any team.

          1. @hohum although I love the spectacle of it all (sub 2 second pit stops are seriously impressive) I do agree – it’s kind of uncesary it seems having so many crew members on the cars! I also wouldn’t mind that coming in tandem with fewer pit stops, so the time spent in the pits isn’t too great.

            But yes, rear jack, front jack and two men at each wheel would be perfectly sufficient and not reduce the speeds too much.

          2. thatscienceguy
            31st October 2013, 23:07

            Pretty sure, and i’m more than happy to be corrected on this (maybe i’m a little old fashioned), but I’m pretty sure the pit crews are the cars mechanics. They have other roles during the weekend, they’re not there solely to do pit stops. So reducing the numbers of pit crew wouldn’t save any/much money as all of those guys need to be there for their other roles anyway.

          3. SciGuy, some yes, but surely not all ( I also welcome correction ),not even in the good old days when teams did their own maintenance, repair and tuning of the engines did they have such a large crew in the garage.

      2. a private enterpise which carries the title ‘world championship’..

      3. I wouldn’t tie it down to one man here @hohum. An investment firm buying any business has seen much the same cash sucking in most businesses. The problem is that over half of the money flows out of the sport that way.

        1. @bascb, It was one man, supposedly working on behalf of the teams who personally did a deal with the FIA to purchase the rights to all TV F1 revenue for his own personal gain.

          1. Well, at the time the teams were in favour, because up to then they had had no one who took care of any commercial side. He did increase revenue for everyone involved, including the FIA. But he also kept a VERY large portion.

    2. Steph (@stephanief1990)
      1st November 2013, 9:14

      @BasCB you might not care much but Brazil does. There’s been rumours surrounding Interlagos for years and this doesn’t help.

      1. Its not that I don’t feel for Brazil, or don’t see how Brazil is very much a traditional part of the racing calendar. I do not specifically feel there is an issue with Brazil as such, its a much broader issue. See France not having a race and the way the UK was borderline for years.

  2. Bold statement to make when he’s rumored to be bringing 6 million Euros to Williams next year via Petrobras.

    1. I suggest that FM is not being hypocritical, assuming that is what you are suggesting, because it is highly possible that Williams has not insisted that he bring along Petrobras, and that Petrobras is a willing contributor that supports FM. I suggest it is highly likely FM bringing along an entity such as Petrobras is not a condition of him getting the seat, whereas pay drivers can only get seats under the condition they bring money. FM, in spite of his critics, has likely done enough in F1 to deserve a seat without such conditions and certainly has proved his ability to compete and help a team in ways a pay driver simply cannot without a team taking a big chance on them.

      1. Williams have their talented driver with some funds in Bottas, Massa is definitely a pay driver to them.

    2. The cynic in me wonders if Massa is making these comments because he’s having a hard time finding a seat.

      1. I tend to agree with your comment.

    3. The one thing that I picked up on was,

      It doesn’t mean I can’t help the team to find a sponsor

      What that says to me is that, if Massa gets the drive at Williams Petrobas will sponsor Williams because Massa is driving for them. Massa isn’t to an extent buying his way into that race seat..

    4. Rumours are open to interpretation, it may well be that Felipe will be paid by Petrobras if he can find a suitable ride, in that case Williams would not be paid but they would not have to pay Felipe, semantics maybe but I believe that is the basis of the Santander/Alonso deal with Ferarri.

      1. Which I feel you will agree still comes down to FM (and FA) being paid, not paying.

    5. So it’s gonna be Massa+Bottas at Williams and Grosjean+Maldonado at Lotus?

      Where’s Hulk? Sauber is about to sign the Russian teen and pair him with Gutierrrez so Hulks odds are looking bad, his chances are going back to Force India if they decide to dump Di Resta and do not promote Calado.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        1st November 2013, 10:30

        Hulk’s main issue is that he’s German. You’ve got Vettel winning everything and Rosberg driving a Mercedes. That puts Hulk in 3rd place.

        Grosjean, Maldonado, Massa, the Russians and Guiterrez wouldn’t be in F1 if they were German and similarily, as Hulk is better than all of them, he’d get a seat easily if he was from one of their countries.

  3. Nothing new here really. And we’ve talked about this recently on this site. I’ll just reiterate my opinion that while pay drivers are not new, I think what is relatively new in F1 is the degree of necessity for the lesser teams to go this route, and the greater number globally than ever of millionaires and billionaires with the ability to supply pay drivers with more temptingly large amounts of money than ever before which potentially increases the risk of some drivers being out there with truly not enough quality experience.

  4. You never hear of pay soccer players do you? (Enlighten me if I’m wrong; I’m not a soccer follower) That just shows how high the costs are in F1 such that so many teams on the grid have to employ pay drivers.

    1. My knowledge of football isn’t great, but I believe it does happen. In fact, some unknown Welshman recently paid Spain’s top club Real Barcelona $131 Million to play for them this season.

      …or something like that.

      1. Gareth bale was bought by Real Madrid for around that sum. Thats like hiring Chilton for 10 million pounds, nowhere near the worth.
        But Bale has huge popularity, which meant from shirt sales extended fanclub, RM recover more money from him.

      2. @magnificent-geoffrey There’s not a chance that can be a legitimate contribution! Haha

      3. The thing with football is that there are hundreds and thousands on clubs, all over the world and in different tiered leagues. In England and Wales anyway we have four professional tiered leagues and these all pay their players, from anything like a few million a year to £30,000 in the lower leagues. This is completely unlike F1 where there are only 22 spots and most racing drivers aspire to be racing in this championship. At some football teams there are 22 people in just one club, and on top of that, hundreds of top clubs that players aspire to be in..

    2. @wpinrui I did give it much consideration at one point but I came to the conclusion that they can’t feasibly exist in big teams: talent is just too important, and brining more money in wouldn’t give you any competitive benefit besides being able to pay for more players really! F1 is different in that respect, but surely the extra points Hülkenberg is racking up would have made it worthwhile for Ferrari say to have him in the battle for 2nd in the constructor’s championship, and particularly for Sauber now to try and get ahead of Force India?

    3. There was the matter of Khadafi’s son at Chelsea if I’m not mistaken

      1. That’s the guy! Never made it to Chelsea but they did manage to ship him to a few Italian clubs. Closest to a pay-player a top league has seen, I reckon.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Saadi_Gaddafi

    4. there is absolutely no such thing as a pay soccer player. all soccer players get payed to play football. to my knowledge their is not one soccer play that plays for a club based on just sponsors. some top players like ronaldo, messi, gotze, falcao may inherit sponsors, but soccer is determined on skill level. the teams can pay huge transfer fees for players and then still have to offer the player a sufficient wage to move them to their club. but no, soccer is much different to f1 on sponsors.

  5. F1 is in a sad state.
    The big teams don’t realise that part of the attraction is having 10 constructors, so they push for customer cars.
    FOM / CVC are going for maximum short term profit and don’t invest in the sport.
    FIA is too preoccupied with itself and still inconsistent in marshalling and not protecting the sport.
    Number of viewers is in a steep decline.

    I wish Bernie 40 extra years in good health and sanity, but I hope someone else takes over.

    On the other hand: I really look forward to Sirotkin and Kvyat.

    1. This isn’t a Bernie problem or an FIA problem. This is a problem made by the teams who are happy to spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year, but can’t even agree that costs are a problem, much less cone up with ways to keep them down.

      1. This is a Bernie problem and the FIA are culpable as they, actually Bernies associate Max Mosely, gifted Bernie the rights to F1 TV income for 100 years at a peppercorn rent. The teams can’t agree on a resources restriction because manufacturers don’t want to compete with their hands tied. And do you really believe that RBR, Merc, Ferarri, and McLaren could build a faster car given an extra $50m.?

      2. Thats nonsense @prisoner-monkeys. Its a problem that stems from how Bernie got the sole comerical rights from his buddy Max.

        The result is that half the money in the sport is flowing out instead of going back into the sport. Marshalling, the tracks we run F1 on, driver development, (even stipends could be available), professional stewarding and grass roots racing – all of these could do with more money to work for a more stable sport.
        And the way Bernie likes to pull over control by buying the biggest teams with lucrative contracts does nothing to stop the endless spending by those who (for now) can afford it, while a team like Marussia was only signed on because otherwise Bernie would likely face trouble with the EU (competition law) and who knows how low the sum is they actually get.

        1. @bascb – What do you think the teams are going to do if they start receiving more money?

          They’re going to spend it. Costs will go up, not down.

          1. Where in my comment do I mention that the teams should get more money @prisoner-monkeys?

            I think the big teams should be getting far less, the small teams a lot more so that we have a more equal base line. And the model for the tracks has to change so that they can actually run a race without losing money on the event and can invest in attracting visitors instead. And then a larger portion of what F1 earns should go towards development of talent and grassroots racing including training of officials, marshals, doctors etc.

  6. Pay drivers are nothing new. They have always been around. The only way drivers make it to F1 is if they are a in-house developed driver that proves they are worth the promotion by winning championships in lower formulas or they bring in funding for a midfield or back marker. Vettel, Hamilton, Maldonado, Grosjean, and Chilton all came into the sport that way. The global economic conditions at their time of arrival is also crucial. All drivers are pay drivers until their stock rises. The only drivers that teams would pay for right now are Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, and Kimi. The funny thing is those guys already have huge sponsors because of their success. No matter where they go, private companies are willing to put money behind them. On another note, Nike is one of the biggest names in sports, why has no team signed them on as sponsors yet. I believe puma, addidas and Reebok are already in F1.

    1. Pay drivers are nothing new. They have always been around.

      Not to the extent that they are now. A small amount of money with some drivers, yes, but now we have drivers who are only pay drivers and only drivers who bring in the mi££ion$ and mi££ion$ of moneys

      1. You clearly weren’t watching F1 in the 1990’s then, when you had drivers like Claudio Langes, Paul Belmondo, Ricardo Rosset or Jean-Denis Délétraz (the latter sometimes considered to be possibly the worst driver to have ever participated in F1). Or perhaps you would prefer to criticise somebody like Giovanni Lavaggi or Pedro Diniz, also notorious pay drivers in their era.

        Indeed, in many ways the 1990’s is often considered to be the peak of the pay driver market in F1, with most of the tail end of the field filled with drivers who could only get into F1 because of their money. The cries that pay drivers are taking over the sport is nothing new – Jonathan Palmer spent most of 1994 ranting about “drives being taken by people who’ve got more money than talent” (a direct quote from his description of Délétraz) – and, compared to the 1990’s, what we are seeing now is relatively modest by historical standards.

        1. I disagree. We already know that pay drivers are not new. But as I opined above I think the difference to the 90’s is that at that time some teams chose to use pay drivers, while now some teams have no choice but to use them, and I think the money they potentially can now bring makes it a potentially far more dangerous prospect in terms of having wealthier than ever pay drivers out there with less and less experience than in the past because that may get looked over due to the size of their cheques.

          1. Most of those backmarker teams of the 1990’s only existed because they had pay drivers – Giancarlo Minardi, former owner of one of the most famous of the small teams in F1, has openly stated that Minardi only survived for as long as it did because he would usually have one paying driver and one paid driver. Tarso Marques’s contract, to pick one example, actually had a clause in it that allowed for him to be replaced by a pay driver because Minardi were so financially stretched in their later years.
            Pay drivers of the past, therefore, were often as financially necessary to a number of teams as they are now – the current era is no more exceptional than the past.

            As for issue of inexperience, it is worth noting that a number of drivers dismissed as pay drivers today have more experience than drivers of the past because the championship seasons of most racing series were a lot shorter.
            Max Chilton, for example, is one example of the modern pay driver, but he had competed in about 170, including multiple seasons in Formula 3 and GP2 prior to entering F1. Even somebody like Sirotkin, who many are pre-emptively calling a pay driver, has competed in 81 races before even testing an F1 car, which is more than most drivers in the past would have had a chance to do.

            By way of comparison, even great champions of the past had often only competed in a relatively small number of races when they entered into F1. Alain Prost, for example, had only competed in 59 races when he graduated from Formula 3 to F1, and that was only because he insisted on completing a full season in Formula 3 in 1979 rather than cutting his season short; similarly, Senna had competed in only 67 races when he entered F1.
            Even relatively modern champions, such as Alonso, were relatively inexperienced when they entered the sport – OK, his season was supplemented by testing, but even so testing is not the same as competing in actual full race weekends. The notion that pay drivers will automatically be less experienced is not necessarily borne out in practise.

    2. When you say ” pay-drivers have always been part of F1″ you are correct but historically a pay driver was a wealthy amateur who ” rented” or bought a car as an independent entry, not a driver who paid for a seat in a top team.

      1. What about figures like Hector Rebaque, who drove for Brabham at a time when that was a championship winning team? Johnny Dumfries? Michele Alboreto?

    3. If I m not mistaken, I can only recall Lewis being on a Reebok ad campaign…havent seen any other F1 drivers or teams on sportwear products.

      Its all about trying to sell a product. You cant sell F1 gear in mass quantities like you can with football boots or running kit, although we do see the likes of racing shoes made by Puma readily available.

      Major Sportswear companies probably dont see F1 as a relevant marketing platform. However, if you consider the likes of Geox, who isnt a sportswear company, have become very famous over the past couple years thanks to Christian Horner’s shaking leg, then perhaps there is a market for smaller players..who havent already been bought over by Adidas or Nike!

    4. Niki Lauda started that way… but he was able to prove himself worthy of any salary in a short amount of time. From Macca’s webpage.
      Born into a prosperous Austrian business banking dynasty, Niki outraged his family by borrowing $30,000 to buy a place in the March F1 team for 1972 alongside Ronnie Peterson.

      1. Reading March Engineerings early history is very informative on the subject of “customer” cars also, who knew Jackie Stewarts 1st. F1 win was in a March built car entered by team Tyrrell.

        1. Correction, not Stewarts 1st. win, but otherwise true.

  7. Good drivers will always bring money….i hate when a better driver is overlooked at because he doesn’t have a big budget.

  8. i think a bit of sponsorship dosen’t hurt, especially in felipe’s case where it means this amazing driver gets to stay in f1 for longer. also, keith stop using the same photo over and over again

    1. Look at you, giving orders! Must go with being a viscount.

    2. Amazing at spinning for no reason maybe…

  9. Wasn’t it ever thus?

    In fact it used to be a whole lot worse – Giovanni Lavaggi, Phillipe Addams, Alex Yoong and – the surely the Jim Clark of pay drivers, Jean-Denis Deletraz anyone?

    Gutierrez, Van Der Garde and Chilton get a fair bit of stick, but they’ve both all won races at junior levels. And Maldonado is a GP2 Champion. Sirotkin on the other hand…

    1. Indeed, F1 history is replete with examples of drivers who really, really, really shouldn’t have been there. For every driver who’s swept the board in the junior formulae and landed themselves an F1 drive, there have been the no-hopers, whose only career achievement was a single pole position in Uzbek Formula Ford or whatever – but wandered into the F1 paddock carrying a large sack with a dollar sign on it and got ushered into a car.

      The only difference these days is that the budgets these drivers have to bring are much bigger, which probably has the side effect of the truly disastrous drivers (I’d add the likes of Ricardo Rossett and Taki Inoue to your list, among others) not being able to gather the required sponsorship.

    2. Sirotkin’s ability isn’t reflected in his results. He spent a lot of time racing wheel-to-wheel with Antonio Felix da Costa this year, but was regularly let down by mechanical failures.

      1. I agree, most people just search on wikipedia or elsewhere and look at the career summary without finding out why there might have been DNFs or when mechanical issues did indeed strike.
        darzan is right, ever since Chilton has entered F1 people have hurled abuse at him and constantly made him the centre of jokes. Yes, he has been behind Jules but we must remember that Jules has been run in the Ferrari young drivers academy and has had tests with them and FP-runs with Force India last year (granted, not a full drive but still good experience); also the fact that he’ll have access to Ferrari’s simulator and all of their resources. So for him to be down a few tenths on qualifying may not be a great selling point but he’s done well so far to keep up with him; I also have to mention his consistency in finishing races. Some people reading this will think “so what, he’s right at the back” or “he can go as slow as he likes” – for rookies to stay out of trouble and be consistent is an important thing, just look at Giedo’s last two starts.

  10. I think the pay driver situation in Formula One tends to go in fits and starts. For example, look at the late 80’s/early 90’s and you’ll see the grid scattered with so-called “pay-drivers”, move on to the late 90’s and other than Pedro Diniz (a driver who actually became quite well-regarded near the end of his career) I struggle to see any others.

    In the same respect, look at the 2009 grid, with the exception of maybe Kazuki Nakajima, can you find a pay-driver present? In the last two/three years they have started to creep back in, but they are necessary in today’s environment. Would you rather see 5 teams with WDC-quality drivers, or another 6 teams complementing the truly competitive section of the field.

    That’s not even to say that these pay-drivers aren’t good drivers in their own respect. Maldonado is clearly keeping the highly-rated Valterri Bottas in check, and Max Chilton is beginning to peg the gap to Jules Bianchi, who is a Ferrari driver in waiting.

    I personally don’t see it as a problem at the moment, although granted, it may well become one in the near future.

  11. I hate to break this now, but I have got the news that Pastor Maldonado has already signed a contract with Lotus. And unfortunately this source is reliable.
    PDVSA reportedly paid a handsome amount of money to Williams to end his contract so that he gets to drive for Lotus. And Lotus, even though highly preferring Hulkenberg over him, had to sign the deal as Quantum backed out after months of speculation. So that’s that! The official announcement is expected very soon, till then don’t ask me for links, you’ll get to read it here only.

    Also, Hulk may join Force India, if Paul is not given a new contract and V. Mallya thinks it’s in best interest. He said that Nico was the only driver who expressed a desire to leave SFI after only just 1 year. So he’s not very highly regarded there.

    I’m quite gutted.

    1. No worries, Kimi is not going to work out at Ferrari and will be replaced by Hulkenberg.

    2. I can’t say I’m gutted by this news, even if true. Maldonado is a hugely talented driver, if not a consistent one. Maldonado-Grosjean would be a very fast team – they’d be deservingly expected to lose a lot of points in the races compared to more consistent old-timers, but speed-wise I don’t think either is much slower than Hulkenberg.

      Besides, for Hulk’s sake, I don’t think he’d be left on sidelines for long. Mclaren might yet swoop in and kick Perez out, or they might at least consider doing that next year. He might also be a possibility for Mercedes (replacing Rosberg) if Mercedes build a very competitive car but Lewis fails to deliver the title.

      So I don’t think Hulk’s career is by any means over; by 2015 both him and Maldonado will be having the drives they deserve.

    3. @aish

      And unfortunately this source is reliable.

      So name it.

    4. I have no idea how you got hold of this information, but I’ve checked it and it’s correct.
      I am also gutted about it, as a long term Enstone fan, Maldonado is my least favourite drive by no small margin.
      I’ve stuck up for Grosjean a lot in the past and now he’s paying me back with interest, I have no such confidence in Maldonado, he’s dead behind the eyes.

      It’s been great supporting Kimi and before that it was great when RenaultF1 Team took 4 titles in ’05 and ’06. Looks like I’ll have to support Ferrari next year because I can’t support a team that lets Maldonado onto a racetrack.

      1. I can’t support a team that lets Maldonado onto a racetrack.

        well said, yeah I’ll be supporting Ferrari, after Red Bull and Mercedes too. I’ll support any team that has talent.

    5. If that’s true, I’d rather have Williams pack their bags and say goodbye to F1 at once.

      1. I’d rather have Williams pack their bags and say goodbye to F1 at once.

        Yes, if you can’t afford F1, leave it. Simple.

    6. So obviously there is a vacancy at Williams, if your source is really reliable and not just spreading a rumour to de-stabilise negotiations.

    7. even worse for hulkenburg is that chilton of all people may block his move into f1 because mclaren are pushing for magnussen into marussia and chiltons sponsors appeal to FI. i like both Hulk and Pastor but cmon, Nico deserves it much more and yet he may be left with out a drive :'(

      1. Can’t see Force India taking Chilton! It’s Hulk and di Resta again at Force India. Sutil and Sirotkin at Sauber. Massa and Bottas at Williams. Grosjean and Maldonado at Lotus.

  12. Nick Jarvis (@)
    31st October 2013, 20:22

    Say tomorrow, the FIA immediately bans any form of pay driver from racing in the sport
    What are the immediate consequences? Maldonado’h out of a drive, Da Costa in, **** Sirotkin etc.. presumably

  13. Its not as if these so called “pay drivers” arent able to drive. Its simple, the fact is that there is a lot of competition to get into F1, and having a bit of cash coming in, is probably what it takes to make it across the line. If thats how the game is played, you have to play by the rules of the day. As the saying goes, “dont blame the playa, blame the game”

    Well it is the “game’s” fault.

  14. Pay driver scenario a big worry for F1

    Not a big worry for Massa though. If F1 genuinely took the 22 best drivers available, would Massa really be included? If so it’s only for development experience rather than anything else, surely? Armchair punter though I am, I would only consider Massa if every other reasonably experienced driver was taken, or if he provided the team with a huge and much needed lump of money.

  15. Mark in Florida
    1st November 2013, 1:15

    An old saying in racing is cubic speed equals cubic dollars. How fast do you want to go? No matter what the budget is that they can come up with . They will still have broke teams trying to race. The Indy racing team’s are a spec series. But the cream still rises to the top. Penske, Ganassi, Andretti the good teams find a way even in a cost control environment. In my opinion pay drivers do hold back more talented driver’s from getting a good drive. But it is sadly the new reality in Fomula One.

  16. Steph (@stephanief1990)
    1st November 2013, 9:16

    The pay driver scenario is absolutely nothing new. There have always been pay drivers- even Lauda technically was one. It’s a problem which will always exist so long as F1 is about chucking money at racing. Kimi’s salary at Ferrari was an estimated 30 million euros, the teams are still oversized, the cars alone can cost up to £100 k to rebuild if they have a little off on a practice session never mind how much they cost to build in the first place. When costs are so high then teams are going to chase after money any way they can and that obviously includes hiring pay drivers.

  17. you would think the amount of fanfare around the hulk would attract sponsors but I guess this game is much more complex. Hope he ends up in a competitive car next year

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