Report: Nissany part of Israel GP push for 2021
There is more than meets the eye to Williams' new test driver signing.
At the post-grand prix test in Abu Dhabi last year, the largely unknown 25-year-old Roy Nissany was suddenly at the wheel of Williams' 2019 car.
He was quickly ridiculed, not only because he was several seconds off the pace of Williams' regular drivers, but because his then 42-year-old father Chanoch was even slower when he did a Friday practice for Minardi back in 2005.
For the 2020 test driver announcement, which will involve Nissany doing several Friday practice sessions, Claire Williams travelled to Roy's native Tel Aviv.
He has strong Israeli backing, including by the new Tour de France team Israel Start-Up Nation.
"I feel like we are all putting the Israeli flag on the map," Nissany said.
Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport said it could just be the first step towards a grand prix in Israel, perhaps as soon as 2021.
"The goal is to race in Israel in 2021," Nissany admitted. "It would be a dream to be able to drive there, with 350 million people admiring my country on TV.
"For me it has been a long journey - almost 20 years," he said.
"Formula 1 was never a dream but a goal. Williams is a wonderful place to learn and I am very grateful to be offered this opportunity."
Israel Start-Up Nation was founded by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams, who said: "The fast-track plan is for Roy to be an actual F1 driver as early as 2021.
"Of course, he has a few hurdles to accomplish before he can be selected to be one of the two drivers."
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This driver has one of the worst driver 'achievement' records ever, how he got the job is purely down to money and influence. F1 is losing the plot, and Williams is a prime/worst example of how things can go wrong when you sell your sole.
RIP Williams, Forumla E awaits
Sad to see Williams in such disarray. Claire is now truly grasping at straws. Nissany might be a fine young man, but he lacks racing talent. The $$$ might be good for Williams, but he is no saviour. And please, not another street race in a fringe country.
I have greatly reduced the amount of time I spend on F1 because of stories like this one. ""The goal is to race in Israel in 2021," Nissany admitted. "It would be a dream to be able to drive there, with 350 million people admiring my country on TV." A dream? If he got into a race in F1 it would be a nightmare for him. Having said that in the current version of F1 anything is possible if enough money lands on a negotiating table. A young driver could have gained valuable experience in 2019 but Williams rented their car to KUB's backers. I wouldn't be surprised if Liberty added N.Korea to the schedule.
Sadly, situations like this are very bad for the sport. Drivers need talent to make the sport as exciting as it used to be years ago. Every year, it seems that F1 is losing more appeal.
"The goal is to race in Israel in 2021," Nissany admitted. "It would be a dream to be able to drive there, with 350 million people admiring my country on TV. -This could actually back fire on his country. Yes, I know that Israel controls the US (just look at how many $$$$$ the US donates to Israel every year against it's own Medicare programme) but it may be a catalyst for political snipping on the World stage....
U.S. politics has next to no influence on F1 which is still very eurocentric. Liberty is Canadian owned and considering their past performance are strict capitalists in nature, they will try to put a race anywhere that pays.
Minor correction so as not to malign our great Canadian neighbors. Liberty Media is a US corp. headquartered in, I think, Colorado and traded on the NYSE. How else could they be so arrogant and misinformed?
I stand corrected, thank you.
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