Formula 1 and the Worst Pay Driver: A Match Made in Money

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 15, 2011

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Recently I wrote a piece giving my top three drivers in the history of Formula 1. I thought it only appropriate that I look at the other end of the scale. This is a piece on one of the worst drivers ever to grace the sport. A man who got in to Formula 1 for one reason and one reason alone: Money.

Now pay drivers nearly always drove for teams in the same situations. Out on their last legs, down to their last few dollars and desperately trying to keep going. This is not always the case, but it is normally not far from reality.

The real pay driver boom occurred between 1985 and 1995. In this period of 10 years we saw many small teams try to make their way into Formula 1.

Teams such as Pacific, Eurobrun, Rial, Simtek, Coloni and Forti. They meant well but they just couldn't afford to really compete. These guys would employ people who could help build their budget so they could last a bit longer.

The pay driver is still very much with us. Vitaly Petrov is bringing a lot of money, so is Narain Karthikeyan and so was Sakon Yamamoto. They are by no means the worst pay drivers in history. Sakon is the worst out of them and he is not even in the same league of awfulness as the guy I am now going to tell the story of.

I have picked what I feel is the ultimate example of pay driver awfulness.

Jean Denis-Deletraz

Jean Denis-Deletraz is one of the weakest drivers ever to get into Formula 1. He first got to drive for the Larousse team, which by this point, was a team headed for bankruptcy.

His first race was in Adelaide in 1994. Incredibly, he qualified in 25th, ahead of Domenico Schiattarella in the Simtek who was considered to be a stronger driver. But soon Jean's lack of ability began to show through.

He was immediately passed by Schiattarella at the start and fell back very quickly. He was so slow that he was already being lapped as early as Lap 10....
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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