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Pay drivers & their sponsorship


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#1 Wiggy

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 13:24

F1 needs drivers and F1 needs Sponsors... so i guess it is logical that some drivers hunt down sponsors who will be affiliated with them solely and help give them more clout in contract negotiations 'I bring millions of quidz, can i drive your car please')

 

However... what are these sponsors actually looking for? With a few exceptions, most of these 'pay drivers' are considered to be less-than journeymen, so it begs the question; why don't these sponsors simply sponsor a team and let the team have decent drivers who will hopefully give the team (and the sponsors brand) more exposure?

 

Obviously the like of Chilton or Diniz where its Daddys money are slightly different  


Edited by Wiggy, 21 January 2014 - 13:26.


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#2 Jackmancer

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 13:37

However... what are these sponsors actually looking for? With a few exceptions, most of these 'pay drivers' are considered to be less-than journeymen, so it begs the question; why don't these sponsors simply sponsor a team and let the team have decent drivers who will hopefully give the team (and the sponsors brand) more exposure?

 

Often, a person is a better brand and endorsement for a sponsor, than a team would be. Unlike football, F1 is most about the drivers.

 

We live in an age where authenticity is key. A person will often be more authentic than a brand would. Maybe not in cases like Guittierez vs a team like Williams, but still. It's worth noting that while the top five brands spend more money on innovation than the top twenty celebrities earn, it’s humans, and not brands, that are the trendsetters.

 

Then of course, the nationality of a driver is very important - it's just a quick way to get into a market. Kvyat is interesting for Red Bull, because Russia is a big market for them.



#3 HaydenFan

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 14:18

Many of the personal sponsors are only able to buy a seat. A pay driver has to really only fork over about 10% of a teams budget. It's also an individual deal. The sponsorship and money is linked to the driver. Makes for an easier sell. A team has to sell themselves as a 2 car team. That means that they have to ask for double the money to make any real impact. So if a "pay driver" brings 10 million (dollars/pounds/euros/bitcoins) to a team, a team would have to ask for 20 million. A much tough sell, especially when your team is a backmarker team that hasn't scored a point going into your 5th year of competition. 



#4 rhukkas

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 14:25

Also a lot of 'sponsors' have family ties... or at least nationalistic. I wouldn't say it's true sponsorship compared to what the teams as a whole have to attract.



#5 ensign14

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 15:42

 

However... what are these sponsors actually looking for?

 

Well, back in the day, it was money laundering plain and simple.  Any race results were an optional extra.  A number of South American sponsorships came to an abrupt halt in the early eighties after some investigations.  Some of it as well was involvement in drug smuggling (the Whittingtons paid for their Indycar Marches in cash). 

 

Far be it from me to suggest that that is still going on today. 



#6 HaydenFan

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 15:47

Well, back in the day, it was money laundering plain and simple.  Any race results were an optional extra.  A number of South American sponsorships came to an abrupt halt in the early eighties after some investigations.  Some of it as well was involvement in drug smuggling (the Whittingtons paid for their Indycar Marches in cash). 

 

Far be it from me to suggest that that is still going on today. 

 

Good times. Was plenty of drug funded Indy Car and IMSA GTP seats in the 80's. 



#7 Andrew Hope

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 19:56

Drug-funded racing programs, IndyCars paid for in cash, Dale Earnhardt still alive and Autism Dillon not born yet.. those were the days.



#8 taran

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 10:35

Not just drugs and IMSA....All those Italian drivers and teams in the 80s and 90s were also funded with funny money. The team would announce sponsorship worth $X and then give the sponsor a percentage back (often quite a hefty percentage) under the table. That all stopped when financial rules were tightened....

 

Regarding sponsorship-driver, with the exception of Ferrari and a few British diehards rooting for McLaren & Williams, nobody cares about the teams. The drivers get all the attention. And few drivers have significant following beyond their homeland. 

 

Which means that when a company wants to leverage their sponsorship, they pick a driver which appeals to them and is not tied in with a rival or more popular company and that driver often has the same nationality or is from a country/region where they want to market something.

 

Only star drivers rise beyond this; Senna was sponsored by Marlboro, John Player Special, Camel, Marlboro, offered to go back to Camel and ended up with Rothmans. Hardly any brand loyalty or even long term recognition/affiliation there.....


Edited by taran, 22 January 2014 - 10:35.


#9 rosscamero

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 10:44

I was having a discussion last night with a friend about pay drivers.        Are there any examples of pay drivers getting the sack for under performaning?  Let us say Eriksson is getting beat reguarly by Chilton and is two seconds behind Koby.      Caterham need money, but they can find someone else that can bring big money.   

 

How hard is it to get them out?

 

I imagine we may see a pay driver swap at Sauber now the VDG is there but Sauber desperately need that Mexican money. 



#10 The Kanisteri

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 10:51

It's quite sad commercial corporations and business can say which nationality and who can drive in top level of motorsport. It's even very racistic.



#11 taran

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 13:09

It's quite sad commercial corporations and business can say which nationality and who can drive in top level of motorsport. It's even very racistic.

 

On the contrary, my friend.

F1 welcomes all races and nationalities. Just bring money.

 

:kiss:



#12 The Kanisteri

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 13:18

On the contrary, my friend.

F1 welcomes all races and nationalities. Just bring money.

 

:kiss:

It shows uglier size when venezuelan despot pays other nationality driver out and own in with questionable way gained wealth from national sources. I don't say that happened since it didn't. But it is very plausible.

It should not be big surprise Spanish bank is always in same team than Fernando Alonso.



#13 Fastcake

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 13:23

It's quite sad commercial corporations and business can say which nationality and who can drive in top level of motorsport. It's even very racistic.


Do you expect businesses to support drivers who aren't going to be any use to them?

#14 The Kanisteri

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 13:32

Excellent question where I have awesome answer. Business should sponsor teams, not drivers.



#15 Fastcake

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 14:44

Excellent question where I have awesome answer. Business should sponsor teams, not drivers.


But what's in it for a business to sponsor the team? They sponsor the driver, mainly of the same nationality, because they think he/she will help them sell things. Sponsoring a relatively anonymous midfield team just doesn't have that appeal.

Edited by Fastcake, 22 January 2014 - 14:46.


#16 taran

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 15:18

Excellent question where I have awesome answer. Business should sponsor teams, not drivers.

 

You are being naive. Drivers are the main attraction and get people interested. At which point sponsors follow.

Emerson Fittipaldi paved the way for other Brazilian drivers and got Brasilian companies interested.

Michael Schumacher made Germany F1 mad.

Jos Verstappen created a F1 craze in the Netherlands.

Fernando Alonso turned motorcycle mad Spain into F1 believers.

 

Now true F1/racing fans will still follow their fav sports and/or pick drivers for more esoteric reasons than shared nationality but the vast majority of fans are casual fans. They enjoy a bit of racing and like to see a fellow countryman do well. As said, only Ferrari is the exception. Italy is mad about Ferrari (to the exclusion of other italian teams) and 90% of all sold merchandise is Ferrari stuff. The rest buy Schumacher caps or Vettel fingers  ;) .

 

Never forget, sponsors are involved for many reasons, usually from selling more stuff to scratching an itch of the company ceo but never to just please fans. So their decisions are made on what suits them best. And that simply is the right driver, engine etc....



#17 boldhakka

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 16:25

Sponsors usually expect the driver to make appearences in their adverts and events "for free" in exchange for the sponsorship. It acts like a retainer for the drivers services in promoting their service du jour.

#18 Spaceframe

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Posted 22 January 2014 - 17:14

It shows uglier size when venezuelan despot pays other nationality driver out and own in with questionable way gained wealth from national sources. I don't say that happened since it didn't. But it is very plausible.

A famous example was Argentinian dictator Juan Peron using tax-payers' money to finance a nearly 40 years old stock car driver's first season in Europe, back in 1949, ifmy memory doesn't fail me. Incidentally the driver did a lot better than both the dictator and the Argentinian economy in years to come  ;)