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Shouldn't Sakon Yamamoto be considered as a pay driver?
I've heard that Yamamoto has more sponsorships that Chandhok and now Yamamoto's replacing Chandhok, even though he doesn't have much talent to begin with, considering the 20th he got in Britain. Any thoughts?
3 Answers
- rosbifLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
The teams at the back have always had to rely on rent-a--drivers to continue. Also, no-one has ever employed a Japanese driver for their talent alone (although Kobayashi may one day get paid to drive) - the size of the cheque they bring with them has always played a decisive role.
It's part of F1, and it fits nicely into the dog-eat-dog competitiveness of the sport. Chandhok wouldn't have got the drive if it wasn't for his sponsors, neither would Senna without a combination of name and sponsors. Therefore neither of them could complain about being turfed out when a higher bidder comes along.
- 1 decade ago
They are only hiring Yamamoto because he has brought new sponsors with him. The only reason they haven't kept him till the end of the season is that his driving skill is far below Senna and Chandhok.
- BOOBOOLv 51 decade ago
Plenty of drivers are in the same situation this year: both the Sauber drivers, Petrov at Renault, Di Grassi at Virgin, all 3 HRT drivers. Some have more talent than others, but all of them needed to pay for their racing this season.