Previously, drivers with significant private wealth or backing from major sponsors could effectively buy a race seat at teams towards the lower end of the grid who were in need of a cash injection.
But the rollout of the FIA Super Licence - whereby a driver must accrue 40 points based on their finishing position in other categories to be allowed to race in F1 - and the current commercial boom that the series is enjoying has mitigated the need for ‘pay drivers’.
While Williams team principal James Vowles wants an F1 “rethink” over how the calendar, cost cap and sprint weekends with only one FP1 session disincentivises hiring a rookie driver, he said the championship has evolved to no longer lean on wealth over talent.
He said: “In the constructors' championship, the gaps between us are, at times, milliseconds. So, you want to have drivers in the car that are - it's a meritocracy - performing at their utmost.
“So, this is not about just bringing in a few million in order to satisfy the bottom line.
“The few million comes from the constructors' championship by making a step relative to your peers. So, that's been a positive change, I think, for the sport.”
Vowles added that teams had helped F1 move away from the ‘pay driver’ model by investing in the junior single-seater ladder to ensure the lesser-funded drivers have a realistic shot at F1.
Source: Autosport