F1 pay packets and others
Are Formula 1 drivers overpaid? NO!, says
Felipe Massa, who earns an annual salary believed to be in
the region of around $8 million, while his Scuderia Ferrari
team mate Kimi Raikkonen reputedly earns at least three
times that sum (and patently is not three times better).
David
Beckham
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali recently floated the
idea of teams reducing driver earnings in a bid to cut
expenditure in F1 which has been acutely affected by the
global economic downturn, and had already lost Honda at the
end of 2008.
When asked directly if he were in favor of a pay cut, Massa
replied, “I’m not inclined to it,” at a press conference in
his native Brazil. “In a competitive sport like this, the
driver plays a fundamental part, and the cost of the drivers
are small compared to the total budget of the teams. The
more people work to reduce costs, the better it is going to
be for everybody.”
Mind you, I don’t know of anyone who would really agree to a
pay cut, though sometimes it has to be done. Take the
ridiculous salary of the chief executive officer of GM in
America who has overseen the greatest cumulative losses in
the history of the company, and up till 2008 was being given
multimillion dollar bonuses.
On top of a base salary of $2.2 million, he was eligible for
up to $3.5 million in incentive payments and a grant of
165,563 shares of GM stock if he meets the internal targets.
He will also receive 500,000 stock options that will vest
over three years and 75,000 restricted stock options that
will vest in three to five years.
In real terms, as the company’s annual proxy statement
notes, Wagoner’s salary comprises only 17 percent of his
total compensation. The remaining 83 percent of his $10.1
million annual pay package comes in the form of stock
awards, option awards, pension sweeteners, and $769,566 in
“other” compensation (life insurance, financial planning,
personal travel on the corporate jet, bodyguards, and
dividends on restricted stock). I have personally never been
a unionist, but you can sympathize with the shop floor
workers who are being retrenched, while the ‘captain of the
ship’ gets such astronomical rewards and is still in command
on the bridge.
So perhaps poor Felipe’s meager $8 million pittance as a
driver, is about right? Sorry, Felipe, you too are grossly
overpaid, as are many other so-called sportsmen. Let’s look
at David Beckham who reportedly earned $22 million before he
went to the US, making him the highest-earning footballer in
the world. On top of his $5 million salary from Spanish team
Real Madrid, he also raked in $17 million in advertising and
sponsorship deals. And that’s for kicking a ball into a net!
Another ball-kicker is Wayne Rooney of some team in England,
who has received an annual salary plus bonus of $7.1 million
and then endorsements of another $13.3 million. You can add
to this list of overpaids, such people as tennis ace Roger
Federer who makes $25-35 million for hitting a ball over a
net and screamstress Madonna who got $50 million for wearing
fish nets. No, folks, none of them are worth it.
If the world’s financial mess brings some of these high
flyers down to earth, it will be a step in the right
direction. (Now I must go and ask the publisher for a pay
cut!)
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting will be at
Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to the Nova Park
development. The car (and bike) enthusiasts meet on the
second Monday of the month, so this time it is Monday
(January 12) at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. This is a totally
informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet
motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates. Many
interesting debates come from these evenings. Come along and
meet guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and
enjoy the Jameson’s Steak night special, washed down with a
few beers.
Autotrivia Quiz
Daimler
Conquest
Last week I asked what did you know about
windscreens? Which car came out with the first curved
windscreen without a central divider? The clue was: think
American and think in trouble. The correct answer was the
Imperial model Chrysler Airflow of 1934.
So to this week. Take a look at the photo, which came from
the London Illustrated News of 1953. A Daimler Conquest
which was advertised as having performance for the “fast
driver”, being able to do 0-60 mph in the blistering time of
20.4 seconds (probably timed using a calendar I would
suggest), and a top speed of “over 80”. The advert suggested
that this was the car to provide “a combination of pace,
performance and pedigree.” After that long-winded
introduction to the quiz question this week - why was it
called the “Conquest”, and be warned, the purchase price was
five shillings and ten pence over 1,511 pounds.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
The 2009 F1 schedule
and some rule changes
Seventeen races on the calendar for 2009, with no
races scheduled for North America. Spa is still on the
calendar, thank goodness, one of the few driver’s circuits
left on the program. Bring sleeping bags to watch Shanghai,
Monaco, Hungary, Valencia and Singapore.
Along with changes to bodywork, vehicle weight and tyre
size, Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) are allowed.
Regenerative brake devices designed to recover some of the
kinetic energy that is normally dissipated as heat during
braking. The recovered energy could be stored electrically,
in a battery or supercapacitor, or mechanically, in a
flywheel, for use as a source of additional accelerative
power at the driver’s discretion. All mechanics must use
rubber glove due to KERS adoption.
Slick tyres will be back again provided by Bridgestone.
1 Australian GP Melbourne 29 March
2 Malaysian GP Sepang 5 April
3 Chinese GP Shanghai 19 April
4 Bahrain GP Sakhir 26 April
5 Spanish GP Barcelona 10 May
6 Monaco GP Monte Carlo 24 May
7 Turkish GP Istanbul 7 June
8 British GP Silverstone 21 June
9 German GP Nürburgring 12 July
10 Hungarian GP Hungaroring 26 July
11 European GP Valencia 23 August
12 Belgian GP Spa-Francorchamps 30 August
13 Italian GP Monza 13 September
14 Singapore GP Marina Bay Street Circuit 27 September
15 Japanese GP Suzuka 4 October
16 Brazilian GP Autódromo José Carlos Pace 18 October
17 Abu Dhabi GP Yas Marina Circuit 1 November
And a free silk shirt
and tie with every driving suit
The tailoring wars are on, with India’s first F1
driver Narain Karthikeyan calling names at Vijay Mallya, the
owner of Team Vindaloo (AKA Force India), describing the
team as “another pedestrian team that’s low on performance
and loud on talk.”
This was in return for Mallya saying that Karthikeyan - who
became the first Indian to drive in Formula One when he
turned out for Jordan in 2005 - and rising star Karun
Chandhok, were not good enough to drive for Force India,
something Karthikeyan claims he wouldn’t even want to do. “I
never even approached Mallya. The vibes from the camp have
been extremely negative and I want to make it clear that I
am not interested in driving for Force India,” he added,
just in case Vijay did decide to throw him a bone.
Currently, Karthikeyan is driving in the A1GP series for
Team India.
That’s a lot of curry being thrown about, but I doubt if Mr.
Mallya is losing much sleep over Karthikeyan’s posturing.
Driving the i-MiEV
Mitsubishi are getting very close to releasing
their small electric cars having made 100 prototypes, and
will supply two test cars to NZ authorities to evaluate this
year (2009). The global roll-out should be in 2010.
Mitsubishi
I-MiEV
The i-MiEV uses a single-phase overnight charging device, a
simple winding charger that plugs into a 15 amp wall socket.
Home sockets are 10 amp with an earth pin the same size as
the other two. On a 15 amp plug the earth is longer; most
switches aren’t rated to handle 15 amps, but their wiring is
20 amp, so the only changes i-MiEV owners must make is to
their socket. A full charge overnight will take the car 160
km, while a quick-charge system produces 80 percent charge
in just 30 minutes.
Those buying an i-MiEV will effectively get a standard i-car
(unfortunately not available in Thailand yet), with the same
specification - including air-conditioning and airbags - as
the petrol version.
The differences are hidden. The high-density lithium-ion
batteries - with 22 modules of four cells each - fit beneath
the floor along with the motor inverter, the charger and
control unit. They replace the fuel tank with the electric
motor displacing the rear-mounted petrol engine.
Thus there are no modifications to the bodyshell at all and
no changes to passenger or luggage space, though the
suspension is certainly different, to cope with the
additional 180kg of weight.
Plug-in
I-MiEV
Those who have driven one of these prototypes say there is
incredible low-down punch from even this modest 47 kW
electric motor, which like all the electric vehicles pulls
at its best from rest. So where the standard 48 kW/95 Nm car
feels relatively relaxed, the electric version throws 180 Nm
at the road, that torque only dropping to equal the petrol’s
at higher revs.
Claimed zero to 80 km/h acceleration is 1.5 seconds faster
for the electric i-car, and it’s positively perky at round
town speeds, particularly during pulling from junction
manoeuvres.
Cruising the straights, the i-MiEV initially feels just like
an i-car on speed. There’s a lot of extra weight beneath the
feet, keeping the center of gravity low. Just like the
standard i-car, this is a city-slicker - not an open-road
warrior. All that extra weight clearly makes itself felt,
though the effect is predictable and gradual - front-to-rear
weight balance isn’t available, but the extra heft appears
to be evenly spread, the batteries stretching as far forward
as beneath the driver seat.
In common with most reports on evaluating electric vehicles,
one factor that could be problematic is the car’s silence,
for unlike a hybrid there is never a petrol engine at work,
so there is nothing to warn pedestrians that the electric
vehicle is approaching.
Mitsubishi claims that ‘well to wheel’, electric vehicles
are five percent more efficient than petrol hybrids and 15
percent more efficient than diesel; and boast a quarter the
CO2 emissions of a petrol engine.
Mitsubishi is just one of the manufacturers on the way to
saving the planet. Let us hope that just because the pimps
at the pumps (the oil cartel) have let the price of crude
come down again that the push towards EVs is not slowed any
further. I will be happy to pay more for my electricity
account and pay nothing to Big Oil.
