Massa slams 'absurd' F1 pay-driver situation

[vcs316]

Feb.1 (GMM) Felipe Massa has revealed his disappointment at the rise of the 'pay-driver' in formula one.

The Brazilian will fight for his future at Ferrari in the first half of 2012, and thereafter may join the struggle for an alternative seat in competition with many lucratively-backed rivals.

"Today, there are only four teams that can afford to operate without drivers that bring money," Massa is quoted by the Brazilian Totalrace website.

"It's an absurd situation," he said, "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," Massa charged.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ma...ver-situation/

[Rob]

horrible to say, but very true. There alot of young talent out there getting missed due to not having the $$$ behind them, sad.

[racingbradley]

It's a horrid situation but is a reflection of the times.

[TheProdigalSon]

Credit crunch times, if we were not in this mess teams would not be struggling for sponsorship and having to rely on pay drivers.

[coolrunnings_99]

Credit crunch and F1 in the same sentence, I dont think so.
F1 has more often then not seen strange business constructions, odd teams and owners, and also pay drivers were not invented cause of lack of moneys.
Its been there, for ages, and racing has alwasy been and will be a costly thing to involve oneself in.

The perspective here being, why is Felipe firing at pay drivers, when all he has to do is be faster then his teammat.
Whos paycheck can cover more then half a grid.

And then we can lament whats good or bad for F1, pay drivere really not being at the top of the list of any F1 drivers concern, especially the one racing a Ferrari.

The thing about pay drivers being more dangerous on track then certain F1 WCs or the next super fast youngster who didnt get a chance cause they aint got no juice, will not rub off on me, since it is a dangerous sport to begin with.

[Hornet]

I have a feeling that Massa may be hinting about Bruno Senna I know, many people do feel he deserve a chance, I'm indifferent, but we can't deny the fact that he brought along a bag of cash from his sponsors. And lets be honest here, if Williams really picked him based on his performance, they could have easily made the choice by the end of last year because once the season ends, that's all there is to see from the drivers. The drivers are not going to do anymore running until this year. So question is why did Williams waited this long? The only possible answer I could think of is that they are waiting for a factor that has nothing to do with performance.

Anyway I agree with Massa. Its a shame that these days, you cant claim F1 consist of the top 22 drivers in car racing. As Massa said, only part of them are there because of their skills, some of them are there because of their sponsors.

[Omegablue]

It started with Pedro Diniz back in 1998 and 1999. And already then there was the worry it was going to be the future of F1.
But aside from Bruno Senna, Perez, Moldonando and Petrov, who else presently is a paying driving?

[TheProdigalSon]

Credit crunch and F1 in the same sentence, I dont think so.

You need to have a serious think with yourself if you think the worlds financial situation does not impact F1 and that it's immune to it. The big manufacturers may not struggle as much as the small teams but everyone is affected. Why do you think they are cost cutting at the moment for a laugh? Tell that to Honda & BMW then.

[coolrunnings_99]

Cost cutting in auto racing and F1 in the same sentence do make me laugh.
A lot.
The same smile, I have when someone says.."we re fighting for peace".

F1 is immune to scores and scores of things, top of the line being common sense.Credit crunch does not come even close, but its there.
We paid ton of money, for one race win in one year.We shall continue to pay it.
And in spite of crisis we and most of the other teams would be more then happy to spend even more.
Wich is going to be the case, if the testing ban gets lifted, and at the exact same second it gets lifted.

As to what I do and dont need to think, you shouldnt be having a clue about it, but should have had some restraint in commenting.

[TheProdigalSon]

Ok...

[Nova]

I think it does impact the tracks, especially the ones we've been losing, or are going to lose.
I loved Imola...how about when the German GP ran thru the ardiennes? We keep getting new tracks,
but I hate to see the traditional venues go the way of the dodo. US cant seem to keep a track, France
wants to alternate, even Spain, where its drivers are national hero's.

[brembo man]

Sponsors are only going to put up the big bucks to buy a seat for the driver they believe got a shot at the podium or a win. If these boys didn't shine out in GP2 thet wouldn't have been spnsored in the first place. They belong in F1 and so does the $$$. Remember it was Santander $$$ that got rid of that drunkin sailor and got us Alonso one year sooner. No complaints there, well maybe a little cursing from Massa but he got over it.

[Hornet]

I think it does impact the tracks, especially the ones we've been losing, or are going to lose.
I loved Imola...how about when the German GP ran thru the ardiennes? We keep getting new tracks,
but I hate to see the traditional venues go the way of the dodo. US cant seem to keep a track, France
wants to alternate, even Spain, where its drivers are national hero's.

I recalled last year reading about how the Korean GP are organizing the F1 GP at a loss due to the fees being more than the ticket revenue.

I think the biggest problem we have is Bernie thinks the government should sponsor the event just to host an F1 race, and obviously not every government sees the same value in hosting an F1 race. The track organizer alone won't be able to do anything if they are not even turning a profit without government backing, and in tough economic times, its understandable that most government would rather cut spending on hosting a race.

[brembo man]

When the F1 races come to New Jersey the state will make money on every end. Tourism is a big plus for any state, all surrounding businesses cash in, restaurants, hotels, transportation etc. Employment goes way up even if it's temp. Even the muggers and pickpockets do good. Bernie is the ultimate businessman second only to Flavio. He just want's the 90% profit due him!

[Hornet]

When the F1 races come to New Jersey the state will make money on every end. Tourism is a big plus for any state, all surrounding businesses cash in, restaurants, hotels, transportation etc. Employment goes way up even if it's temp. Even the muggers and pickpockets do good. Bernie is the ultimate businessman second only to Flavio. He just want's the 90% profit due him!

That's true, I believe thats the reason why my country's government build the Sepang circuit just to bring F1 in, to promote the country in terms of tourism.

Only thing is not all politician may see it that way. So if a government decided that its not worth it, then the track organizer are on their own, and we risk losing the race since its very hard for an organizer to organize a race from ticket sales alone and pay the fees too.

[brembo man]

If the state is the organizer as is the case in New Jersey it's the taxes they impose on every aspect of the event not just ticket sales that make it work.