The Return of the Pay Driver

The grid for Formula One in 2011 is quickly filling, with drivers who bring significant financial backing. Williams have signed Pastor Maldonado, backed by Venezualan oil company PDVSA. Sauber have signed Sergio Perez, supported by Mexican telecommunications giant Telmex. Virgin have signed Jerome D'Ambrosio, who brings sponsorship to the team from Belgium, while Renault have retained Vitaly Petrov, who enjoys strong backing from Russia. Now HRT have brought Narain Karthikeyan back to F1 after six years away, thanks to Indian company Tata. It is likely that HRT's second seat, the only one remaining, will also be filled by a driver who can pay for it.

Now cast your minds back to 2008, where there appeared to be absolutely no 'pay drivers', who had previously been a staple component of the F1 grid, allowing low-budget privateer teams to remain on the grid. Adrian Sutil had used his sponsorship from German tech company Medion to secure his seat with Spyker for 2007, but impressed the F1 field, remaining with the team for 2008 as it was renamed Force India. Williams took on Kazuki Nakajima, a product of engine supplier Toyota's development programme. But no drivers had their seat in F1 entirely thanks to money.

The reduction in big-budget manufacturer teams as a result of the financial crisis that hit the world later that year has lead to an increase in the number of private teams needing to run to strict budgets, even though spending has been significantly cut anyway thanks to cost-cutting measures. Many companies, such as RBS and Phillips have seen out the remainder of their long-term sponsorship contracts with teams, and left the sport as a a knock-on of the crisis. They have not been replaced, which is why even established teams like Renault, Williams and Sauber have had to go looking for drivers with a budget.

Some of them, such as Petrov, Maldonado and Perez have done a reasonable job in the lower formula, and therefore deserve to be in F1, although whether they deserve to keep big talents like Nico Hulkenberg or drivers with known speed like Nick Heidfeld out of those seats with decent teams is questionable. Ideally they would drive for the lower teams such as Virgin and HRT, while the likes of Hulkenberg and Heidfeld kept their seats at teams like Williams and Sauber.