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Pay-drivers make 'an absurd situation' - Massa
ESPNF1 Staff
February 1, 2012
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The sponsorship that Bruno Senna brought to Williams helped him secure the seat ahead of Rubens Barrichello © Getty Images
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Felipe Massa says that the number of pay-drivers in Formula One has left the sport in "an absurd situation".
After Rubens Barrichello was replaced by Bruno Senna at Williams, the issue of pay-drivers has been raised once again. Senna joins Pastor Maldonado at Williams, while HRT is still delaying on its second driver as it looks to bring in further income. A number of other teams also have to use at least one of their drivers as a source of funds, with rumours persisting that Caterham may replace Jarno Trulli with a driver bringing substantial sponsorship.
Massa cut his teeth with Sauber before moving to Ferrari, and he said that he only felt Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes were able to select drivers purely on talent.
"Today, there are only four teams that can afford to operate without drivers that bring money," Massa told Totalrace. "It's an absurd situation and I don't think it's good for F1 and especially the young drivers. Even if you get very good results in the formulas below (F1), you either have to be lucky or have money in order to get a seat. That's not F1."
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ESPN Staff
Felipe should be careful, if he's doesn't get back to his 2008 form in 2012, then won't be long before he becomes a 'pay driver' as well...
Posted byLucky for him the "problem" isn't worse...he'd have been out last year.
Posted by"Thats not F1?" Many of the original drivers in F1 were pay drivers. Not to say i dont agree that the drivers with the most talent should get the drives, but F1 is the most expensive sport on earth and money matters to all the teams. So unless he wants to take early retirement Massa should be focus on his own driving not others, because if he doesn't improve massively on his poor form from last year he may have to go and find some sponsors to buy a seat himself.
Posted byWhat about force India?? I don't think either of Di Riesta or Hulkenberg is a pay driver. Both of them have earned their places in the FI setup.
Posted byI think that's it exactly - I really don't think he will be with Ferrari next year, and he will be looking for one of the seats outside the 4 big teams.
Posted byTotally agree!, F1 must back to the Driver's average age of 26-28ish years old. Too young is too wrong
Posted byI happen to agree with Massa, however it is just the nature of the game now. Teams that are not heavily funded by large corporate sponsors, need to fund they programs someway so they can compete and even that does not make them a top competitor as we have seen in the past.
Posted byBut Felipe, that is F1 and always has been. In fact, the proportion of pay to salaried drivers has been reducing over the years; there was a time when most of the drivers were either pay drivers or volunteers.
Posted byIt's simple, go out and get some sponsorship of your own. It should be easy if you're such a good driver.
Posted byu guys donno wotz happeninig in formula 1 ...itz all money......dnt blaime felipe okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy......felipe is best and vil show up in 2012....