2nd Marussia/HRT: worth the money?

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Quote taken from: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...car-options/P1

Originally Posted by Enzo Coloni

"In Europe all [these] young talents spend million[s of] euros in GP2 and [Formula] Renault 3.5 in order to boost their careers, but [the] reality is that unless you are followed directly by a manufacturer, the only way to enter F1 is having at least 15 million euros, [and] that will buy you a seat in the last two rows of the grid."

First of all, I'm not sure if the "15 millions" figure is exact. On one hand Enzo Coloni knows the business well, as a (soon former) GP2 team owner, and high-profile driver manager. But on the other hand, he could well be exagerating by a few millions in order to try to prove his point.

But whatever the correct amount is, several millions of euros is an enormous amount of money, for driving a car that is barely faster than a GP2, is doomed for the 2 last rows of the grid, and doesn't give its driver a reliable benchmark, with the exception of the driver's team-mate, who himself usually hasn't driven a competitive car for years anyway.


I am not familiar at all with the background of the backers of the likes of Di Grassi, d'Ambrosio, Pic or Karthikeyan to be honest. What are they trying to gain from their F1 venture?

Is it media exposure? Well, their driver barely gets any air time as long as he is stuck at the last 2 rows of the grid, and he usually gets some for the wrong reasons(ie: getting lapped).

Are they trying to make an investment on the future, hoping that the driver can somehow use his time at Virgin/HRT as a kick start for a successful career? Hard to impress any bigger team in a car that is not only 4 or 5 seconds off the leaders' pace, but more importantly, 2 or 3 seconds off the tail of midfield, isn't it.


Is there any future for a driver like Charles Pic anyway? What can he realistically aim for, before his funds dry up? Impress the team so much so they give him the "hired" n°1 driver seat instead of Glock...?

[Bononi]

Take look at F1 history and see how many backmarkers made your way to the top.

There you have your answer.

[nicanary]

I never cease to be amazed at how much sponsorship appears to be found throughout the sport, especially in times of recession. There are hundreds of drivers racing professionally in the feeder formulae, all of whom have persuaded backers that somehow or other they're the next "big thing", or that the exposure of the sponsor on TV will guarantee massive boost in sales and public awareness.

Are they really that gullible, or do they simply want the glamour and their 15 minutes? I fear that if the world economic problems continue for several years, many of these backers will fall by the wayside. The whole "professional" set-up could fall like a house of cards, leaving only the very highest strata of formulae, and the most persistent sponsors.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Take look at F1 history and see how many backmarkers made your way to the top.

There you have your answer.

First of all, how many F1 champions or race winners stated out as low-tier teams "pay drivers"?


And anyway, let's not forget that the F1 of today is very different to the F1 of 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

Driver talent having less impact on overall performance + Ultra close midfield + Little to no attrition = A lot less chance for the lower-tier team drivers to shine in the F1 of today


Put Alonso or Vetter in a Virgin or an HRT. What would they be able to do? Fight with the 2nd Catherham for 20th on the grid at best? Would that really be enough to impress the top teams?


The fact that driver talent is less of a factor also hurts the overall driver quality of the field, as for Virgin or HRT(and to a lesser extend midfield teams like Williams), it makes much more sense to pick the rich but less talented journeyman driver, rather than the new money-less feeder series wunderkind, so they can spend a few more millions on development.

[bella]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Is there any future for a driver like Charles Pic anyway? What can he realistically aim for, before his funds dry up? Impress the team so much so they give him the "hired" n°1 driver seat instead of Glock...?

bad example - charles pic is doing a really good job alongside glock. he's definitely keeping timo honest, and that can only reflect well on him, particularly considering how well connected his management are.

if, like pic, you're well connected then you're getting a year's experience in a car, with the tyres and associated press exposure, plus a year's practice at media appearances and all the assorted non-motorsport things f1 is about. then if you've got experience, a nicely stuffed wallet, well-respected management *and* are quick you make yourself far more appealing to f1 teams. some guys just want to be f1 drivers for whatever reason, and have sponsors willing to help them make that happen. others want to be professional racing drivers.

oh and there's more front of the field drivers who did start by slapping their wallet on the table and asking whether they could have a f1 drive rather than ones who didn't. so don't start that one again!

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by bella

bad example - charles pic is doing a really good job alongside glock. he's definitely keeping timo honest, and that can only reflect well on him, particularly considering how well connected his management are.

Actually, this wasn't meant to be a shot taken at Pic! He is doing indeed a fine job. I guess few people expected him to match Glock so fast.

However it is a little depressing to see someone put so much money on the table, for few career openings on short term.

Originally Posted by bella

oh and there's more front of the field drivers who did start by slapping their wallet on the table and asking whether they could have a f1 drive rather than ones who didn't. so don't start that one again!

Who do you have in mind in particular, if I may ask?

[medius]

I consider myself a motorsport fan (off to Mallory tomorrow, been to Cadwell twice this year) and I can tell you all the runners and riders in F1 this season. Can't do the same for GP2 or GP3, quite a large proportion of general motorsport fans probably couldn't either. So I'd say the exposure is worth the money. Up to the driver how he maximizes it though....

[bella]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Who do you have in mind in particular, if I may ask?

alonso paid for his minardi drive. schumacher paid for his jordan drive. glock brought money for his jordan drive. senna brought money for his hrt drive. perez brought money for his sauber drive. ricciardo brought money for his hrt drive last year. webber brought money for his minardi drive.

then you have the guys who were very firmly wedged in with f1 teams from the young driver schemes - how much do they count? both d'ambrosio and di grassi were well connected too btw - jerome was under the gravity management wing, and di grassi had a relationship with manor from when he was one of their f3 euroseries drivers.

so arguably yeah, for the guys who are well connected and who will come out of the end of it with a better chance of a f1 drive, it IS worth the money in my opinion. but for those who just want to drive a f1 car and be a part of it... that depends what it represents for them, and how much further they could get in a professional racing career as a result of their f1 season i guess.

[Marbot]

Coming tenth in the championship (tenth or higher two years running) is worth an awful lot of money to an F1 team. Caterham came tenth, two years running, and that was worth more than $30m + to that team.

http://football.uk.reuters.com/leagu...1D8033923B.php

Not one of the 'new' teams has ever scored a single point since coming into F1, so that topsy turvy race is what keeps the likes of Marussia and HRT in with a shout of making it big.