Conor Daly is no longer supported by Sahara Force India

For decades, the United States has been a prime marketing target for companies involved in F1. One of the best ways to excite local crowds would be to have a driver capable of competing for victory. It seems that Conor Daly has distanced himself from this prospect since he is no longer associated with the team that supported him until now, Sahara Force India.

In an interview with the site Autoweek, he reveals his financial journey throughout his career, starting with his American stint: « There was a season in my career where I had to find the budget through supporters and sponsors. In 2008, I won the Skip Barber National Championship, which funded 2009 in Mazda Star. I had to finance 2010 with sponsors because I hadn’t won the championship the first year. But it was about $250,000, and I found sponsors for that. Then, in 2010, I won the Star Mazda Championship, and that paid for my entire season, which was my first in GP3 and five Indy Lights races [Editor’s Note: the equivalent of GP2 in Indycar]. »

He then signed a contract with Force India, which paid for his next two seasons in GP3, within Nicolas Todt’s French structure, ART Grand Prix. He constantly progressed over the three seasons since, although he only ranked 17th in his first season, he finished third in the 2013 edition, which was won by Daniil Kyvat. However, this third place in the championship was not sufficient compared to the commitments he had with Vijay Mallya’s team: « Force India simply couldn’t finance me anymore. That’s just what happened, and they were great with me. Contractually, I had to win the GP3 championship last year. And I didn’t. Getting taken out during a race killed my championship… and my European career ultimately. »

Now that the European doors have closed on him, the Indiana native has decided to try his luck in IndyCar, but things there are no simpler than in F1 since one also needs to be able to bring a substantial budget: « It depends on the sponsorship that teams already have. What is good in IndyCar and with some teams is that they constantly try to have their own sponsorship because they want to be able to hire the drivers they want. But obviously it’s so difficult right now, for anyone. Most teams have sponsors, but that’s not everything. Generally speaking, there’s nothing for less than 1.5 million dollars. »

Unfortunately for him, Conor Daly is far from being able to gather such a sum. For one of the seats he was in discussions for, the asking price was between 2.5 and 3 million dollars, while he could only present 600,000 dollars. More than the money, what the son of former driver Derek Daly regrets is that teams no longer take the risk of launching new drivers: « I think it’s unfortunate to see the decisions made by some teams, especially those with the funds. Picking guys who’ve had their chance, who are, of course, experienced and with whom you know what you’re going to get. But how can you develop a sport with guys from the past? Especially when you announce a guy like Jacques Villeneuve [Editor’s note: for the Indianapolis 500], the media covers it. »

For the first time in his career, he finds himself without any drive just as the season is about to start. His only chance now is to attend all the events to make himself known to the decision-makers: « Mike Hull [Editor’s note: the sporting director of the prestigious Ganassi Racing team] told me to be visible, to be present all the time, to make it known. That’s all I can do. So I will be there. Oriol Servia is someone who has been in this position many times and has never brought in sponsors. He wants to be recruited on his own merit, which he deserves. He told me to keep working and to do what I can. So I think it’s going to happen. It obviously won’t happen this year, but I hope teams will respond and there will be new young talents because there are good ones out there. »

He can thus refer to a driver like James Calado. We had met the reserve driver for Sahara Force India in the Monza paddock last year. Yet, despite a third place in the GP2 championship, he finds himself without any prospects for a single-seater in 2014. And what about Fabio Leimer or Davide Valsecchi, the last two GP2 champions to date, who have completely disappeared from F1’s radar…

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr