Glock illness highlights issues in reserve

Late on Saturday afternoon, only an hour or so before the commencement of qualifying for today's European Grand Prix in Valencia, Marussia announced Timo Glock, their German driver, was feeling unwell and would not be competing in the hour-long session.

The decision to rest Glock and allow him the chance to recover from the stomach bug he has been suffering with since Thursday was not a surprise - the 30-year-old is consistent and reliable and if fit will ensure John Booth's team achieve their maximum potential at Valencia Street Circuit today.He had already clocked sufficient times in practice to earn special permission to race, despite not partaking in qualifying.

However, the fact Glock's car simply sat unused during the session as Marussia had no eligible reserve driver in place proved an all too common problem in Formula One. Reserves are supposed to be ready to step in when required, but we have seen in recent seasons that this is rarely the case.

Yesterday, Maria De Villota, the Spanish woman racer who is a test driver with Marussia, was unable to replace Glock because she did not have the prerequisite Superlicense that the FIA, the sport's governing body, requires to compete in F1.

Even if she did have the qualification, it is unlikely they would have dropped her into Glock's car under such circumstances. She has never driven the car and is not due to try it out for the first time until later this year. Which, naturally, begs the question: What exactly is she testing just now?

Last year, when Sergio Perez's crash in Monaco ruled him out of the Canadian Grand Prix, instead of Sauber calling upon Esteban Gutierrez, their young prodigious Mexican reserve, they gave the opportunity to Pedro de la Rosa, a then 40-year-old employed by McLaren-Mercedes who had been on the sport's periphery for more than a decade.

Similarly at Lotus (formerly Renault), in the 2011 off-season, when Robert Kubica suffered serious injuries following a rally accident, Eric Boullier's marque did not offer the Pole's race seat to one of his team's countless reserve drivers, which included Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean. Instead, they called up the experienced Nick Heidfeld. By August he had failed to provide the performances they had hoped for and he was finally replaced by Senna. But why the initial delay?

There should be a rule created that dictates if you have a reserve driver in place and the situation arises for them to step up to the plate, they must meet the requirements and must be given their chance. Otherwise, the team is simply fooling the fans, fooling the sponsors and ultimately - and most unfairly - fooling the driver.