If that's the case then why didn't RF1 hire Heidfeld instead of Petrov? I actually worked at RF1 at the time and Lopez categorically stated that they were there to go racing and needed a solid second driver who would consistently bring in the points. Everyone assumed it would be Heidfeld and then out of the blue they hired Petrov who coincidentally had a huge amount of money behind him from Russian sponsors. Unfortunately in the majority of F1 teams the business side is more important than the racing....
I assume it was a risk they had to take as they needed the money there and then rather than when they
might have got some off bernie
if they got any points. Renault was an average at best car at the start of the year so probably worth the risk of taking a pay driver and hope he had some form aswell.
It may benefit teams like HRT, Virgin and Lotus to let people buy seats because they're less likely to score enough points to get any prize money, but then again Lotus had two proper drivers and finished 10th and did get a decent cut in 2010.
James Allen did a better job of explaining the whole pay V paid driver situtaion than me , it's on his blog somewhere if you can be bothered to look for it but i think i paraphrased the general gist of it above. And like i said, it doesn't always pay to have a paying driver , i never said never.
