The involvement of the major manufacturers should reduce the number of pay drivers on the grid. They have the luxury of hiring drivers purely on merit. However, it is still a major consideration for the bottom two or three teams. Just a fact of life.

When bemoaning the failure of talented pilots being blocked out of F1 by rent-a-drivers, perhaps we should consider whether the talented drivers would want to drive for the lower-ranked teams anyway. Surely they would be better off getting a testing contract with a top team, or racing in ChampCars/DTM until a better F1 opening emerged.

The prevalence of pay-drivers was much more marked during the early 1990s recession, when I would say three-quarters of the grid were forced to appoint drivers largely on sponsorship grounds. This was evidenced by the lateness of announcing driver line-ups in those days. 1992 was I think the low point, if you want to call it that. I remember reading Autosport early that year, and finding that Team X was awaiting confirmation that Driver Y would bring a bag of gold from Sponsor Z.

As regards Williams, it is unusual for them to be apparently basing driver appointment decisions to some extent on overt commercial grounds. I think I'm not alone in being distinctly underwhelmed by their driver line-up for this year. Too much pressure is being placed on Nico Rosberg's shoulders.