Playing the game

Lucas di Grassi, Virgin Racing's rookie driver, has bought a minority share in the Addax GP3 team. He drove for Addax in GP2, so the partnership makes sense. That's not what I really want to talk about, though. Long has it been known that longevity in the sport is due in no small part to the ability to play the game - to get the most attention from the press, to present a sponsor-friendly public persona, to talk the powers that be into giving you a drive year after year.

Of course, not all racers choose to stay as racers for the duration of their motorsport careers - some become team bosses (see Christian Horner). It would seem that di Grassi might have his eye on the this option. Despite earning only €200,000 this year (only three drivers earn less than him - Bruno Senna, Karun Chandhok and Sakon Yamamoto, and the last two are pay drivers - see halls of fame and shame), and living in Monte Carlo (where property prices start above half a million for a 1 bedroom flat), he has managed to buy his way into team ownership.

He has had a rather tricky first season, finishing in front of his team mate only twice (well, Glock recorded a DNF in a race when di Grassi finished, so technically, it's three times), and not achieving higher than 21st in qualifying. Some of the blame for this goes to the Virgin design team for building his fuel tank too small to finish a race, which can't have helped his performance in his rookie season. However, he still does not have a confirmed drive for next year, which means he needs to start putting serious thought into what he's doing next year. While I do like him as a driver, perhaps if he became a team boss, his fan club would out-do Horner's?