Malaysia is set to have its second-ever F1 race driver in 2016 – Jazeman Jaafar has been offered a race seat with one of the Mercedes-powered teams in Formula One next season, The Star reports.
Aside from reigning world champions Mercedes AMG, the company also supplies engines to three other teams – Force India, Lotus and Williams. It was not reported which of these three the 22-year-old will be driving for.
“This is the pinnacle of motorsports. I’ve got an offer to do a full season next year. I’m ready to take it up a notch – my results over the last few years speak for themselves,” Jazeman said.
The move to F1 will cost him a fair bit though. Jazeman, who obtained his FIA Super Licence in Portugal last September, will have to secure his own sponsorship backing in order for the dream to become reality. The report adds that on the average, a driver will need an annual budget of around 15 million euros (RM63 million) per season.
“This kind of opportunity only comes once. I may not get the chance next time. It’s all about having the funding to make it happen and that’s something I hope the relevant parties can come in and support me,” he said.
Jazeman began competitive racing in 2006, starting off in the Formula Renault Asia series before progressing on to Formula BMW Asia the following year, where he emerged as champion at the end of the season.
In 2010, he made the switch to the British Formula Three championship, competing in the series until 2012. He finished as runner-up in the championship that season. Since 2013, he has been racing in Formula Renault 3.5, and in May this year notched his first win in the series at Monaco.
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1MDB come up and support Jazeman la woi! Better u give RM2b to many Malaysians rather than to 1 useless peeyem.
Why this also need to ask tongkat from Gov? Yes, they might be able to give seed fund and incentives, but thats all.
Once you have started its up to ur marketability and brand presence to continue. Motorsports is now sadly about marketing and image, less about real performance and results.
Why Alonso who cant bring in the points but still get paid so high? Its his prestige he brings to McClaren & Honda. Somemore you dun have to consistently win the championship. Just one ie. Button, will do.
Same time why K.Singh is struggling despite his past results? Cuz he din have brand manager or his sucks. Cant promote him internationally.
A malay boy become an F1 race driver & John butthurt to the max.. i’m lovin it.
What next, check how many A’s he has in his SPM exam to see if he has the merit and deserves sponsorship.
alonso do have his personal sponsorship that he brought in (santander), thus why he’s being paid that much..also, he’s a multiple world champion & can develop the car
Congratulations (a bit early I know)
Good luck on the sponsorship…
Nice! Lewis Hamilton new teammate!
dei.. dunno how to read ah?
typical malaysians read the first line and then comment like nobody’s business on soSIAL media
congratulation
bye bye crashnado..
This is the only guy who gets it. Williams wont bother on someone they haven’t helped develop. Force India needs experienced drivers. Lotus still has DRB money, and indirectly has influence from Petronas through Mercedes. And its very openly known Pastor is a paid driver. Why not replace it with another paid driver from another oil rich country??
Give the bloody money to this guy…
Can meet rosmah and she will supply money (maybe from 1mbd). Also she loves young guy!!
Good to have a Malaysian F1 driver on grid. However, to spend RM63 millions on one person is a bit too much.
If Jazeman really good enough, he should secure his sponsorship by himself and hope he is not hoping for Malaysia’s G or companies to assist him…
Way to go Jazeman!
Gua caya sama lu.
Let Khairy Jam worry about funding you.
This guy have some talent but not talented enuf (yet) for F1. 63 mil for one guy who will end up like alex? Save the money first or at least ntil he has proven himself at his current series by becoming the champ.
Anthony…Jazeman is suppose to be third Malaysian F1 driver..the second Malaysia F1 driver is Fairuz Fauzy (Spyker n Lotus Racing) albeit he is oni a reserve n test driver n oso oni drive in practice session..
can ask sponsorship from yayasan 1mdb maaa…
No no no. Can get from Bank of America via dear leader. Somemore got direct cable maaa…
dont worry umno perkasa and pekida will support you
alex yoong pun melingkup dah bro..
Some Malaysians will say: at least AY din crash so often cuz he dun have nasi lemak as his budaya
and you would like to say that AY is so damn slow because he eats lots of bak kuh teh? stop the nonsense and your stupid comments.. most chinese eat nasi lemak for their breakfast as well..!!
Pity. One young man tries to make a name for himself in the world and all malaysians can discuss is his race (and sometimes what he/she is wearing or not wearing).
I don’t think we should be so harsh. I think if the government decided to sponsor him, it may not be a bad idea. Malaysia already spent millions upon millions promoting tourism on some football clubs shirt. F1 could be a void medium too.
Of course, I think many are concerned if he’s another Alex Yoong. But before you decide on that, let the young guy prove himself in the car first then only comment.
Err the problem is to get a chance to prove himself he needs to stump the money. And you’re suggesting he needs to prove himself first to earn the sponsorship.
So which comes first? the chicken or the egg?
This 63m did not went into his account. It’s to buy him an opportunity to prove himself. I would prefer this compared to advertising on some Spanish club shirts. At least we are wasting it on a Malaysian who may have a chance to make it into a star which could make the investment worth while. Of course it’s a big if… but you’ll never know if you haven’t try. Petronas already splash so much money on the losing Sauber team before Mercedes buyout.
You shouldnt beat around the bush by trying to write a roundabout way. FYI the some Spanish team you mentioned, is Sevilla and FYI they just won Europa League consecutively and “Visit Malaysia” was on millions of TV screens during the finals. Thats money well spent.
Also, Sauber were hardly loosing when Petronas was sponsoring them, even during BMW days. Mid-tier I will grant you that, but its not called loosing. Its only after the team reverted back to Peter Sauber-owned and Petronas left, that it is today.
Lastly, Merc din buyout Sauber. Its still there racing with Ferrari engines against Merc-AMG.
Personally I think his salary will be RM24000 per year, which works out to RM2000 per month.
Sounds reasonable, since it is higher than minimum wage salary in Malaysia.
Almost correct. The correct currency would be in Pounds. Roberto Merhi takes home the least amount of salary on the field, which isn’t too far from this number. However,his sponsorship should net him quite a bit.
Magnum, where are you?
My take Jazeman will be going to Williams.. A Mercedes engine powered team.
Are u a freaking racist? Be proud as a Malaysian will be on the f1 grid next season. And stop with these Malay n Chinese nonsense. You are really in a third world mindset.
ye lor, support all Malaysians. Dont be Racist laaaa.. haiyo,
Moan and groan, moan and groan. Negative, negative.
What have you achieved?
My take is that this guy will be going to the Manor or Lotus because they need the sponsorship money! LOL
Jazeman would make a good racer, with wins in the lower formula, and winning at Monaco is a great feat. Yes, 15 Million Euros is a lot of money but imagine if he were to be a success, he could help a lot of people. Look at Senna and Schumacher, benevolent in their native country and even overseas. The reality is, commercialized sports require money for people willing to watch them. Hand them over to trusted agents like Willi Weber and you’ll be assured that all that cash goes to good use. He doesn’t need the government to sponsor him, he has his talent, and his rich father for that.
Get 1MDB and Jho Low as sponsor.
get Magnum4D & Genting to sponsor..im pretty sure they have tonnes of money laying around, and get the other chronies company on board too while we’re at it, since they are already reaping a whole lot of benefit at the expense of the country
I am very proud of that fellow. Hopefully we will have our very own Malaysian Formula champion. However my concern is these winners usually will be spraying champagne in the podium. How would our politician react than??
What about the other Petronas Drivers who were in the same program as Jazeman? How did they end up in their careers or whatever is left of it? How did this guy get further in motorsports while the others got cut short? Performance based?
VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE~
sorry lah.. but richboys don’t have that hunger.. they don’t need to change their circumstances to elevate themselves to something better..
f1 or not, he’ll still be partying away somewhere with daddy’s petronas money.. that itself is a glaring sign for me that if daddy didn’t have the connections, this wouldn’t even materialise.
if only we could have something for motorsports like what Shebby Singh did for football, “MyTeam” helped discover talent regardless of financial background. let’s break the monopoly of motorsports being a rich man’s game (in this case, rich man’s son).
the talent development process would make an excellent tv program.
paultan u know how to trace my iP address, call me : P
I heard Manor Marussia F1 Team will use Mercedes engines for 2016.
This deal may help Jazeman, as long as he receives sufficient funding, to get into the F1 grid soon. Who knows?