Just as atrocities in Las Vegas have kept the ‘nuclear threat’ from North Korea out of the headlines, the misfortune that has seen Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel lose 31 points to title rival Lewis Hamilton in just two races (and 48 points over four races) is keeping all other Formula 1 news as bit stories.
This past week Felipe Massa has been stating his case for keeping his drive at Williams’ for another season. As the Brazilian has not beaten a teammate in the World Championship standings in eight years – and that could be nine with current partner Lance Stroll finishing ahead of him in the last three races – he clearly needs an agent with a magic wand.
The Williams team are currently in fifth position in the World Constructors Championship, their 65 points put them 13 ahead of Toro Rosso and almost 70 points behind Force India. While the rewards teams receive for finishing positions in this title race is a closely guarded secret, every position is sure to mean an extra (or less) 10 million dollars at the very least.
Therein fifth spot in what is essentially an eight-runner race must be considered disappointing and costly. To the rescue …a driver who can bring considerable income to the British team fixing the financial shortfalls associated with poor results.
But, in a vicious circle, paying drivers are all too often found in mediocre cars representing teams with a ‘financial hole’ to plug. Resultantly the best possible results are not always achieved by the mid and rear pack teams.
Williams may have won nine constructor’s titles between 1980 and 1997 but they have also had some pretty questionable pilots during their leaner years. Riccardo Patrese with his four race wins from 80 starts (1988-1992), Alex Zanardi, Kazuki Nakajima, Rubens Barrichello, and the accident-prone (albeit race winner) Pastor Maldonado being examples.
In Lance Stroll Williams already have one driver confirmed for 2018 and it is no secret his wealthy father is paying for the privilege. The question is, who will partner him next year and will he too be paying millions for his seat in this struggling outfit?
Robert Kubica and current reserve driver Paul di Resta are the names on everyone’s lips. While they will bring experience they are probably not in the possession of the millions billionaire Stroll senior has in the bank. Jolyon Palmer clearly has a rich father, but he has probably given half of his fortune to the Renault team during 2017 in what was a bad investment.
Identifying a potential new Williams driver outside of Kubica or di Resta is difficult but it was not until the start of September 2016 that the name Stroll was heard of not alone put into the Formula 1 frame. Indeed, another wealthy teenager could emerge from obscurity.
And who knows, the ultimate decision may rest on the Stroll family shoulders. They are currently paying for two 2014 spec cars to travel the world and be ‘tested’ at forthcoming race venues. In recent times Lance Stroll has ‘raced’ these cars around this weekend’s venue, Sazuka, twice (once before and once after the Singapore Grand Prix) they were then sent on to Austin, Texas, for more private track time at the hands of the 18-year-old.
Given this financial fire-power and clear determination of achieving success it is not inconceivable any appointment will need to be approved by the teams ‘sugar daddy’ and he might just be content with the go-slow Massa partnering his boy for a second season.
