Andy Soucek feels F1 teams are choosing money over talent
Since the 2010 Formula 1 season came to an end, some of the drivers are now done with their contract period in their respective teams making them team-less, and it seems that joining a team for 2011 is becoming quite a problem for some of the drivers.
Due to the current financial crisis the whole world is facing, Formula 1 has been vitally affected by this problem and it seems that many teams are also facing this problem since it is extremely difficult to find a sponsor nowadays as compared to it was
just 2-3 years ago. As a result, some of the teams are now more interested in a driver who is bringing in a good sponsor with him rather than his skills.
Williams made an example of this as they chose Pastor Maldonado over Nico Hulkenberg even though Nico is a better driver than Pastor. There are many rumours that the team signed Pastor only because of the fact that he is bringing a sponsor from PDVSA that
is an energy and mines company in his home country Venezuela.
Andy Soucek, who was the former Virgin Racer reserve driver is also going through this problem and stated that this is not how Formula 1 is supposed to be. Soucek admits that this is a big problem for most of the drivers and it would affect the sport’s image
as the sport is openly choosing money over talent.
Other than that, the drivers that are hoping of breaking into Formula 1 will go through a lot of problems as well.
“As a driver you've always needed sponsors and support, but now I see a problem. In the current situation with reduced marketing and sponsorship in the world, there are other drivers that are backed politically or even by their countries,” Soucek told the
Media.
It is believed that with everything becoming more expensive as each day passes by, a Formula 1 seat is also becoming costly for the drivers.
“You win in F3, F2, you do a test with Williams, you drive in GP2, Superleague, but compared to others who are already in F1 you see they have no such achievements. In the end it's not important only to be good,” he added.
Even though Soucek’s chances of breaking into Formula 1 as a full time driver seem bleak, he is still hopeful that some of the teams might be looking for pure talent and pace and if any team is, he would have a great chance of joining it.
“I am negotiating with several teams, some to be the main driver and others to be the third driver. I will give everything to get to F1, but there are other options,” said Andy.
Tags: