Felipe Massa

[Juen-Jen Wang]

LOL really?

No one remembers the 90s with Jean Denis Deletraz, Paul Belmondo, Olivier Beretta, Andrea Chiesa, Emanuele Naspetti, or Giovanni Lavaggi? F1 has always had a lot of pay drivers. Some pay drivers turned out to be fairly decent and remained in F1 for a while. But there will always be those that pay in F1 and end up over their head (like the drivers I just mentioned).

In fact. I'm willing to bet that Maldonado and Yamamoto is actually better than Deletraz, Belmondo, and Lavaggi. Maldonado is atleast very quick on Monaco and Yamamoto doesn't get lapped within 10 laps (LOLDELETRAZ). Even Narain Karthikeyan is better than the likes of Deletraz, cause there were times in which Karthikeyan did pass the Virgins. I bet Deletraz would have been 20 seconds off pace in an HRT

Boy what short memories the racing fraternity has

 

[glendo]

i reckon Kobayashi in a ferrari would be amazing. i think it was kubica's destiny to go to maranello, sadly that accident has stunted his career.

 

[Victor Ivanov]

I don't think Alonso will be happy with so aggressive teammate.

 

[James Chant]

I don't think Alonso will be happy with so aggressive teammate.

It's not all about Alonso. If they want to win, they need to have drivers who can do it, so stuff Alonso, and look at who else can get them winnin again.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Short memory maybe, but it's keeping with what's currently relevant.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I think Alonso would welcome any form of driver based on the fact that the team will give equal cars.
He´s already been teammate with arguably the fastest F1 driver ever.

 

[GAIAjohan]

Giorgio Pantano was the best kart driver the world has ever seen.. It's pretty sad how it went along with him..

 

[Hampus Andersson]

He raced in the GP2 Series from its inaugural year in 2005 until his championship campaign in 2008, holding the record for most races competed and most races won in the series. As of 2011, these records have been taken over by Luca Filippi (86 starts) and Pastor Maldonado (10 wins) respectively.

 

[GAIAjohan]

Still Pantano raced with poorer teams in GP2. And have you seen his kart record? he still has many records on his name, and Pantano is still the benchmark for new karters..
Fernando Alonso called him invincible, when Alonso was racing in the lower classes...
Nico Rosberg had a poster on the wall of Giorgio Pantano..

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Still Pantano raced with poorer teams in GP2.

Really.. These are the years in which Maldo and Pantano won their title and with what team.

Racing Engineering - Pantano - Driver Championships = 1 - Races won = 14 total
Rapax Team - Pastor Maldonado - Driver Championships = 1 - Races won = 7 total

I´m sure he was fantastic in karts (and GP2). Many have been but it´s not a guarantee that you will be succesful in everything after that.

 

[GAIAjohan]

This is a fantastic read:
http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/giorgio-pantano-and-why-he-deserves-his-shot/

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Short memory maybe, but it's keeping with what's currently relevant.

Pay drivers do suck sometimes, especially if really talented poor drivers get passed over. However, the top echelon of racing will always have pay drivers no matter what series. It's just the fact of the matter and I seriously doubt this will change with any series in the future.

Regardless, the previous generation of pay drivers are a lot more horrendous than this current generation of pay drivers. Say what you want about Karthikeyan, Bruno Senna, or Maldonado, they are atleast leagues better than the 90s pay drivers who spun every corner and tends to get lapped by lap 15. Senna and Maldonado atleast have won in GP2

 

[Hampus Andersson]

There should also be a certain clarification of what a pay driver is.
None of these guys pay anything from their own pocket. That goes for guys like Hamilton as well.
He´s been taken care of since he was a kid by Mclaren, it just so happens that they have an F1 team.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

There should also be a certain clarification of what a pay driver is.
None of these guys pay anything from their own pocket. That goes for guys like Hamilton as well.
He´s been taken care of since he was a kid by Mclaren, it just so happens that they have an F1 team.

That's a good point. I guess a pay driver is someone who has loads more sponsorships than other drivers? But I think every driver in F1 has loads of sponsorships anyway?

 

[Hampus Andersson]

That's a good point. I guess a pay driver is someone who has loads more sponsorships than other drivers? But I think every driver in F1 has loads of sponsorships anyway?

Yep
If we assume Hamilton never met Ron at 8 years of age or something like that he would probably be in the same shoes as Maldonado or possibly higher considering he is an exceptional talent with or without sponsors.
Without a doubt the fastest F1 driver since Senna in terms of raw potential and pace.

He would have ended up in F1 but i guess the road would have been slightly longer.
It´s what you do with your time in F1, you can´t afford to make mistakes and if you get a title then you are a certified F1 driver for as long as you want your career to go on.

 

[GAIAjohan]

One pay driver paid from his father's pockets.
Pedro Paulo Diniz.

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Do you want to guess who has the most wins in the history of GP2? Yes it´s Maldonado...

The biggest problem with Maldonado is political hating.

Lots of people have trouble with Venezuela, while surprisingly there is no trouble with Mexico or Saudi Arabia...

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Yeah right, it was very good transfer for Team Santander.

Then everybody is a paid driver because nowadays all drivers have to bring sponsors to the team, except RBR.

 

[Victor Ivanov]

Then everybody is a paid driver because nowadays all drivers have to bring sponsors to the team, except RBR.

I didn't say they weren't. I just said Massa shouldn't complaint. I think only 6 drivers on the grid are not pay drivers.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

Do you want to guess who has the most wins in the history of GP2? Yes it´s Maldonado...

I was just wondering, did you take into account that the quality of the grid was so low that Maldonado could achive the most wins in GP2? (Just wondering since I never followed GP2 that closely)