Formula 1 is a sport that requires skill, talent, precision and execution. It is a sport that requires physical fitness and since it is not just a sport of speed, it requires brains as well.
However, all these qualities go to a waste if a driver is not provided with the best piece of machinery the game has to offer. There are many excellent drivers that have the ability to achieve the best results race after race but they are not able to achieve
them since they are not part of a good team.
This year, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren have been at the top of the list and since these 3 teams have the best drivers the sport has to offer, there is no room for other drivers and therefore, many great drivers spend their time in the sport hoping to sign
with one of the top running teams.
There are many drivers who have been a victim of this problem and out of the younger drivers these days. Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil have been affected the most by this problem. However, Robert and Nico are in teams that have the ability
to rise but you never know what Formula 1 has in store for you.
There were a lot of rumours that Robert Kubica was going to replace Felipe Massa in Ferrari for the 2011 Formula 1 season but Ferrari denied such speculations. Robert has been the only driver to challenge the top 3 teams as he finished in 8th
place in the drivers’ standings just 2 points behind Nico Rosberg.
Talking about signing a driver, it has been quite disappointing as many teams consider signing a driver only if he has a good sponsor with him that would financially benefit the team. Team Williams signed Pastor Maldonado as a replacement for the talented
Nico Hulkenberg only because Pastor had a major sponsor from PDVSA. Maldonado will drive alongside Rubens Barrichello in 2011.
Other than that, the only reason why these teams are desperate for money is because they do not have the resources and money to build a package that would be good enough to challenge the cars of the top running teams. Therefore, most of the middle/back-running
teams sign drivers who have a strong and reliable sponsor along with them.
The reason why it costs teams so much money in order to create the best piece of machinery is that most of the best engineers who are experts in this field are either already working with good teams or ask for more money than the team can afford. Since most
of the best engineers have their own team of mechanics, it is not easy for teams to afford these teams and therefore, they are left with the same engineers they have been working with.
Nevertheless, it is not just about the machinery. There are many drivers or people who have the ability to build a team from scratch and take them to the top. Therefore, building a team is another form of sport in Formula 1 and Flavio Briatore and Ross Brawn
have been the best examples of this.
Brawn introduced a new team in 2009 by the name of Brawn GP and scored a record-breaking performance with the help of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as the team won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in their debut season.
Renault was able to win 2 championships consecutively with the help of Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso. However, there are some drivers who just require a good piece of machinery like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Therefore, in some cases it’s a matter of luck but not always. Formula 1 requires a balance of both money and skills in order to obtain the best possible result.
Tags: