Originally Posted by Valve Bounce
I think the term Pay Driver is very difficult to define. Some drivers, although they do get paid, bring a helluva lot of sponsorship money to a team, or their salary is covered by the motor supplier.
Then, of course, a driver like SchM or Alonso could actually end up bringing more money to the team through various ways (like clothing and flag sales) than the team pays them.
But yeah! there are some drivers who get into a team ahead of more gifted drivers simply because they bring money and sponsorship to the team, without which a team like Williams nowadays simply could not survive.