The pay driver "thing"

The pay driver "situation" in Formula 1 is being pictured escathologically as a disaster of the era, the end of the category as we know it. Even Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief who should know better, seems to be blowing the thing out of proportion.

First of all, paying drivers always existed in Formula 1, and always will exist, in one fashion or another. Years ago, they came mostly in the form of privateers, drivers who bought and run their own cars on real shoestring budgets, because they did not attract the attention of works teams. Then, when commercial sponsorship came into full force in the 70s (which, by the way, killed the privateers) the teams down the ladder continued to rent seats in their cars to anyone who could bring a few thousand dollars. As a matter of fact, a large number of drivers who raced in Formula 1 in the 70s were paying drivers of one sort or another, and I could list dozens. Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda began their F1 careers renting drives. Even Brabham, which was a well financed team, employed pay driver Hector Rebaque in its championship year, 1981. The list goes on.

The pay drivers continued to exist, although now, sometimes it looks like the driver is not a pay driver. Do the math - if you bring (or attract) 5 million dollars to a team's budget, and the team pays you US$500,000, then by definition you are a pay driver, even though you earn a salary!!!

So don't come with this "pay driver" crisis concept, it does not exist in my mind.

The situation seems "out of hand", because now the two weakest teams in Formula 1 - Marussia and Caterham - are all made up of pay drivers, and to make room for such drivers, they had to let go of two drivers who do deserve to be in Formula 1, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock. Matters are made worse because a third "new team", HRT, finally foundered.

To me, the situation improved from last year, when one of the more traditional teams, Williams, employed a driver, Bruno Senna, who brought a sizable chunk of money, so he was a pay driver, whether one likes it or not. He has been replaced by Bottas, a Finnish driver who does not bring a cent to the team, I reckon.

One driver who some considered a pay driver, Sergio Perez, who attracted Carlos Slim`s money to the Sauber team, almost won two races, is now a Mclaren driver and yesterday posted the fastest time in pre-season testing. His placed is taken by Gutierrez, who some also consider a pay driver(!) and some reckon Gutierrez is even faster than Perez. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, the mother of all pay drivers of the age, often frequented the first slots of the grid and won a race on speed! Something that seven-time, 93-race winning driver Michael Schumacher did not come even close to do...

On the other hand, let us be honest. What good would it be for Glock or Kovalainen or Kobayashi to continue in Formula 1 racing for thirteenth place and shooting for tenth place in the constructor's championship with zero points?

The real sad thing, Mr. Whitmarsh, is that Formula 1, with all its glamour, brains, talent, money and popularity, has failed to produce 22 competitive entries. The teams at the bottom of the time sheets are glorified jokes. The whims of the Caterham and Marussia teams stem from the fact that they are very slow backmarkers, who are unable to attract good sponsorship. Thus drivers like Glock, Kovalainen and Kobayashi have to be out of Formula 1, possibly forever.

Perhaps it is about time we talk about 3-car teams again, huh?

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian based in Miami

An impossible dream

After a brilliant season in 1969, with a Brabham-Ford driven by Piers Courage (two second places), Frank Williams embarked into what seemed to be an eternal career as a back-marker in Formula 1.

In fact in the next season, not even Piers Courage's brilliance could make the De Tomaso-Ford competitive, and other great drivers, Brian Redman and Tim Schenken also failed to make the car fast, after Piers' untimely death.

In 1971 and 1972, Frank fielded Marches, experimenting with the first Williams designed car in 1972, the Politoys. In spite of having good drivers, such as Henri Pescarolo and Jose Carlos Pace, Williams' cars were mostly back-markers.

Having attained sponsorship from Iso-Rivolta and Marlboro, in 1973, Frank fielded upgraded versions of the Politoys, then a revamped car, which still used bits and pieces from the original Williams. In spite of the theoretically good sponsorship deal, the Iso-Marlboros were again back-markers, and got two points in the championship. Frank could be seen in race tracks carrying tires, and the team was most decidedly at the bottom of the food chain as far as F1 was concerned.

Arturo Merzario was retained for 1974, and actually had some outstanding performances with the Iso-Marlboro, starting 3rd in South Africa and finishing fourth in Italy. Notwithstanding, things were not all that well within Williamsland, for Arturo was not being paid as agreed. Merzario continued in the team in the early part of 1975, but when the promised payments did not materialize, he left the team 1/3 into the season. Jacques Laffite was lucky enough to post a second place in Germany, but Williams was mostly a laughing stock of the F1 fraternity by then.

A liaison with Walter Wolf, the purchase of the latest Hesketh design and hiring of Jacky Ickx as a driver failed to bring glories to Williams. In fact, for the first time since 1970, the team failed to score a single point in 1976, and looked more like the De Tomaso days. At the end of the season, Williams parted company with Wolf.

In 1977, while Wolf was winning races as a renamed team, Frank went back to the March route, and fielded a slow March-761 for Belgian driver Patrick Neve, with little or no impact on the circus.

The first iteration of Williams as a team, especially 1970 and 1976, and the first year of the reborn Williams team, 1977 looked more like the 3 teams that have become part of the F-1 fraternity since 2010, Caterham, HRT and Marussia.

I suppose these teams dream having a turn of events that lead Williams, in a short period of two years, to become a top team, in fact winning a championship 3 years after fielding the unsuccessful March for Neve. Of course, the millions brought by Saudi sponsors helped Williams leave its status a a laughable back-marker, turning it into a top team. At the proper time, incidentally. For within two years, the turbo revolution would make teams that could not attract engine partners, such as Fittipaldi and Ensign, irrelevant, causing their ultimate demise. Had Williams failed to produce that much speed when it did, it would likely die a certain second death.

The problem is that it was that much easier, in the late 70s, to turn things around. When Williams won its first championship, most teams still used the Cosworth-Hewland combo, and the difference was basically in chassis design. Williams was so successful in 1979, because it managed to improve on the Lotus 79 concept, like Ligier. Additionally, Williams linked up with Alan Jones and Patrick Head, largely responsible for the team's success.

How can a Marussia improve, with a Cosworth engine these days? Even Caterham, that has the benefit of Renault engines, is unlikely to surge ahead of teams that have a tremendous technological and financial edge over it.

Sure their dreams is to turn things around like Williams did way back when, but I reckon this is pretty much impossible these days. Their choice of drivers only compounds the problem.

They will remain at the bottom of the food chain, and the best they can do is scrap for 10th place.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and motorsport historian, based in Miami