Hey readers. Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Years! I sure did. I am now back with some more crazy, opinionated posts that I hope you'll relate to and agree with on some level. My first post of 2018 is related to an article I recently spotted on some well respected motorsport news sites and it got me thinking. So, sit back and relax!
The article in question is one that appeared on Autosport on 7th January and was titled; "Pierre Gasly: I've proved you don't need money to reach Formula One."And as much as I respect Pierre as a driver and a person, I have to completely disagree with the above statement he has made. Long story short, in this day and age, it's all about money. Talent is starting to mean jack-sh*t, in some sort of context.
First of all, let's look at Pierre and drivers in a similar position; junior team drivers. Usually, the most easiest way into a junior team is talent, performance and potential. But that doesn't mean a free entry. Although the purpose of a junior team is to give a driver a stable and finance free (?) way off getting to Formula One, at the end of the day the junior team is sponsoring the said driver so despite what I just said, is it really money free?
Still on the subject of junior drivers, although backed by a junior team, some of these drivers also bring their own sponsorship. Example; Carlos Sainz bringing Spanish brands Cepsa and Estrella Galicia to the sport. (I should mention that Cepsa was with Toro Rosso before Sainz's F1 appearance but he was still sponsored by them in junior series.) As a Carlos Sainz fan, I am not saying he did this at all as he has proved himself on raw talent, but it makes you think, if drivers are bringing their own sponsorship to a junior team, how long is it until drivers are buying their way in?
Unfortunately, this is the story in Formula One in this day and age. Young, talented drivers are missing out due to richer, not as talented drivers paying for their seat. The sad thing is, due to the expense of F1 these days, these said pay drivers are keeping teams viable and in my opinion this shouldn't be the way. Of course we need to understand that in some way, every driver is bringing some sort of sponsorship to their team. So, the point I'm trying to make here, no matter how much it pains me, it is next to impossible to get a Formula One drive without money, but of course, in Pierre Gasly's case, talent does help.
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