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Rio Haryanto's former boss has hit back at suggestions the Indonesian is a straightforward F1 'pay driver'. A common analysis is that while the Mercedes-backed Pascal Wehrlein is effectively at Manor on merit, it is Indonesian Haryanto's state-fuelled dollars that are powering his own 2016 debut.
But driving for former F1 driver Adrian Campos' GP2 team last year, Haryanto finished fourth overall and beat eventual champion Stoffel Vandoorne in a couple of notable races. "He is a guy who has measured himself against Vandoorne and beaten him twice," Campos told Spain's El Confidencial newspaper. "Vandoorne is one of a kind; everyone in this world accepts that the Belgian is something else. But Rio is on the only one that beat him in a fight head to head."
So Campos says it is wrong to simply surmise that the Indonesian government is powering Haryanto's rise to F1. "He comes with the support of a sponsor, but he's not a pay-driver. Maldonado is, but not Rio," said Campos. (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (2)
Login to replykhasmir
Posts: 893
LOL, not a Maldonado fan but he actually won an F1 race in his career, he could be fast sometimes but he was not consistent.
Vandoorne is consistently fast, not sure you can say the same about Haryanto. Money is the only reason why he is in F1 today.
ario118
Posts: 1
Everybody's got money and wanted an F1 seat, dude.
Rio may not be consistently fast.
Yet.
For now.
But he did beat Vandoorne twice. I suppose that counts as a reason.
And... not only Maldonado wasn't consistent, he was a disaster! He won a race after how many starts? And in what team? After that single win, then what? Disaster after disaster.
Give Rio some experience and a better car, then you can make a comparison.
Personally, I'm sure he's a waaay better driver than Crashtor.