mklaskin

I could not resist posting this, though I do not agree...

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...-a-pay-driver/

Dicsuss.

wanna911

What is there not to agree about, doesn't everyone have to have a sponsorship? Think Ferrari would have signed Fernando if they didn't know for sure that Santander would be coming with him? Ferrari are only stupid sometimes.

paradisenb

That seems like a "Duh" statement.
Ferrari gets around 20 million/year for hiring FA. Yes, he is a paying driver. His money just comes from a 3rd party. Whichever way you look at it, someone has a financial gain from whomever they hire to drive their cars. A$$, gas or cash.

ProCoach

Um, bringing sponsorship to the team (and being paid out of that, negotiated beforehand) IS the definition of a paid driver.

A paying driver is the one that wins the race for a race seat over a more talented but less-backed driver!

Alonso is the former, Petrov is the latter.

multi21

Too quiet for you on the forum prior to the first race of the F1 season?

Petrov is a little too loose with his lips sometimes. Remember last year when he was critical of his team and his manager had to back track for him? I think the constant questions about Russian money getting him a seat finally made him crack. And, his point is valid in so far as both he and Alonso are backed by sponsor dollars, so what's the difference?

My question would be to shareholders of Santander. How does a bank that is financially strapped have the ***** to pay $20m per year to one guy to race?

wanna911

So who is the less backed but more talented (than Alonso) driver that Alonso won the seat over?

And how are they different if Petrov is doing the same thing?

ProCoach

Please read what I said again.

Alonso is a paid, professional driver. His salary is coming from Santander, the Spanish bank. Santander gives a greater amount than Alonso's salary to Ferrari in connection with Alonso driving there. Alonso doesn't have to "win the seat" over anyone, if Ferrari wants him, but the extra money from the relationship that Alonso has with Santander sweetens the pot and helps make the Ferrari (or whoever Alonso drives with) more competitive. That's how racing sponsorship works.

Petrov has personal sponsors from Russia. He is able to pay himself from those sponsors and offer the excess to the team he drives for. Trulli has sponsors, too, but less lucrative for the team that hires him than the Russian cash Petrov provides.

It is generally considered that Senna, Petrov, Charles Pic and some others are "pay drivers."

It's generally considered that Daniel Ricciardo, Paul DiResta, Nico Hulkenberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Massa and some others are in enough demand that they are "paid" drivers, but they all have the ability to "bring money."

mklaskin

Let's put this in perspective.

If Alonso is a "pay driver" then so too was Senna (Nacional Bank and Honda), Prost (Marlboro), and Schumacher (Dekra, Shell, et al).

There is a quantifiable difference between bringing a sponsor and having a sponsor follow you.

Ultimately, I just thought his comments were/are stupid and make him appear even more foolish.

multi21

The argument can be made that Kimi didn't bring as much sponsorship or $$ as Alonso and he was not only let go, but he was paid to NOT DRIVE the last year on contract.

Further, it can be said that someone like Schumacher brings so much attention and sponsorship himself that anything he wears, be it a ball cap or sticker on his helmet, brings attention, ie $$ to Mercedes F1....

mklaskin

Very true.

I'm still tryin' to figure out that whole "get paid a lot of money NOT to do something" gig. Most days I'm just not good enough to get paid to do anything...

Flying Finn

Talking about sponsorships... Check out Heikki's new hat...
Sponsorships are often quite boring but not always...

Nick Wong

Petrov is not a bad driver, more F.Alonso than A.Yoong. In fact I think the current crop of F1 drivers are pretty good with Button, Raikonnen, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, and Schumacher having won the championship and a bunch of second/third tier teams with hungry drivers.