Maldonado. Not of this planet..
Discussion
Sonic said:
Lotus must be aware of what poor PR Maldonado is for them? I can imagine that with all his crash's, despite all the money he brings, the deal for Lotus must be cost-neutral at best!
Hardly.The actual cost of crash damage is a lot less than you think, as most of the cost is in having the top-level personnel to make the parts. They already have these people, so the financial cost ain't that enormous. The real cost is that these people have to fix things rather than develop new things.
Financially, however, they're still way in the black, unless, of course, you consider the amount of prize money they might have won if they had two drivers capable of picking up points and getting Lotus up the table. I can't recall exactly how much extra a team gets for finishing, say, 7th rather than 10th, but the difference will certainly be many millions. And given that Grosjean is showing that the car really can perform (albeit it's still a sack of s
t to drive), Maldonado's utter non-performance is costing the prize money.I suspect he'll not see out his three year contract.
Sonic said:
Lotus must be aware of what poor PR Maldonado is for them? I can imagine that with all his crash's, despite all the money he brings, the deal for Lotus must be cost-neutral at best!
Hardly.The actual cost of crash damage is a lot less than you think, as most of the cost is in having the top-level personnel to make the parts. They already have these people, so the financial cost ain't that enormous. The real cost is that these people have to fix things rather than develop new things.
Financially, however, they're still way in the black, unless, of course, you consider the amount of prize money they might have won if they had two drivers capable of picking up points and getting Lotus up the table. I can't recall exactly how much extra a team gets for finishing, say, 7th rather than 10th, but the difference will certainly be many millions. And given that Grosjean is showing that the car really can perform (albeit it's still a sack of s
t to drive), Maldonado's utter non-performance is costing the prize money.I suspect he'll not see out his three year contract.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/204479/1/maldonado-dr...
At least he has a realistic assessment of his chances.
At least he has a realistic assessment of his chances.
hairyben said:
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/204479/1/maldonado-dr...
At least he has a realistic assessment of his chances.
Jeez, even I have DREAMS like that.............At least he has a realistic assessment of his chances.
longblackcoat said:
Hardly.
The actual cost of crash damage is a lot less than you think, as most of the cost is in having the top-level personnel to make the parts. They already have these people, so the financial cost ain't that enormous. The real cost is that these people have to fix things rather than develop new things.
Financially, however, they're still way in the black, unless, of course, you consider the amount of prize money they might have won if they had two drivers capable of picking up points and getting Lotus up the table. I can't recall exactly how much extra a team gets for finishing, say, 7th rather than 10th, but the difference will certainly be many millions. And given that Grosjean is showing that the car really can perform (albeit it's still a sack of st to drive), Maldonado's utter non-performance is costing the prize money.
I suspect he'll not see out his three year contract.
This, plus the fact that he's scored more penalty points than championship points is going to hurt the team in the constructors championship. And every time he crashes in practice he's costing himself and the team more and more valuable time to learn the car/track.The actual cost of crash damage is a lot less than you think, as most of the cost is in having the top-level personnel to make the parts. They already have these people, so the financial cost ain't that enormous. The real cost is that these people have to fix things rather than develop new things.
Financially, however, they're still way in the black, unless, of course, you consider the amount of prize money they might have won if they had two drivers capable of picking up points and getting Lotus up the table. I can't recall exactly how much extra a team gets for finishing, say, 7th rather than 10th, but the difference will certainly be many millions. And given that Grosjean is showing that the car really can perform (albeit it's still a sack of s
t to drive), Maldonado's utter non-performance is costing the prize money.I suspect he'll not see out his three year contract.
Though I would have though he is I’m not sure he’s costing the team that much with his crash damage and missed championship points. After reading up I would guess worst case they’ll break even.
According to some reports it seems the F1 prize fund is <> $700m dividend between the top 10 teams. Because Ferrari are Ferrari they cream the top 2.5% regardless and the remainder goes into the pot for the top 10 teams - including Ferrari.
Appears the fund is split and part based on success in recent years and part on current years WCC position. I didn’t realise that. So long as you are in the top 10 for 2 of the last 3 seasons the 50% is split evenly between the teams. Can’t see Lotus finishing behind Caterham.
The 50% pot ($350m) for the current WCC is apparently rewarded like so. The champions get 19 per cent and the other nine teams 16, 13 11, 10, 9, 7, 6, 5 and 4 % respectively. eg: 4th = $38M 7th = $24M 10th = $14M.
So I would say that despite my general distain for Pastor unless the team were predicting a 4th place or higher finish in the WCC and through solely his inability to currently match his team mate they finish way off that his $30M pay to drive still looks decent value for Lotus.
source http://www.hindustantimes.com/motor-sports/topstor...
According to some reports it seems the F1 prize fund is <> $700m dividend between the top 10 teams. Because Ferrari are Ferrari they cream the top 2.5% regardless and the remainder goes into the pot for the top 10 teams - including Ferrari.
Appears the fund is split and part based on success in recent years and part on current years WCC position. I didn’t realise that. So long as you are in the top 10 for 2 of the last 3 seasons the 50% is split evenly between the teams. Can’t see Lotus finishing behind Caterham.
The 50% pot ($350m) for the current WCC is apparently rewarded like so. The champions get 19 per cent and the other nine teams 16, 13 11, 10, 9, 7, 6, 5 and 4 % respectively. eg: 4th = $38M 7th = $24M 10th = $14M.
So I would say that despite my general distain for Pastor unless the team were predicting a 4th place or higher finish in the WCC and through solely his inability to currently match his team mate they finish way off that his $30M pay to drive still looks decent value for Lotus.
source http://www.hindustantimes.com/motor-sports/topstor...
MartG said:
Once the contract is up, yes, if that remains the position [politics being a fickle thing]
MartG said:
Translates to "we won't to be paying for that wker anymore....."Just read this whole thread, and the comparison between Pastor and Grosjean, even at Romain's worst time in F1, is laughable. RG had a stellar career in feeder series, before a short stint in the Renault, he then tried a few things and won everything from Auto GP to GTs to GP2, and did it all comfortably. PM spent 4 years in GP2 and won it in the year when the competition was at its weakest ever, having had a mediocre record up to that point.
The main problem with Maldonado is his attitude. I'm told he behaves like a petulant child all the time, and the public attacks on Williams at the end of last year were him showing his normal personality a bit more publicly. When Bottas had his car in P1 he would spend the whole of P2 trying to prove he was faster, and sulk when he couldn't do it. His technical feedback is useless too, so without a strong teammate the team are stuffed on the car setup and development front. I love the way he keeps saying how glad he is that he moved from Williams to Lotus, and that it was absolutely the right decision!
He's a total liability, but brings so much cash that Lotus have no choice but to put up with him.
The main problem with Maldonado is his attitude. I'm told he behaves like a petulant child all the time, and the public attacks on Williams at the end of last year were him showing his normal personality a bit more publicly. When Bottas had his car in P1 he would spend the whole of P2 trying to prove he was faster, and sulk when he couldn't do it. His technical feedback is useless too, so without a strong teammate the team are stuffed on the car setup and development front. I love the way he keeps saying how glad he is that he moved from Williams to Lotus, and that it was absolutely the right decision!
He's a total liability, but brings so much cash that Lotus have no choice but to put up with him.
Edited by jamiebae on Tuesday 20th May 20:40
MartG said:
Not necessarily: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114046But then... The Lotus driver also reckons he is good enough to remain in F1 regardless of any particular financial support.
"I think I have everything [I need] to be here - if you look at my career, I've won [races] in all the categories, even in Formula 1, which is not the case for many drivers here," Maldonado added.
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