Pay driver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A pay driver is a driver for a professional auto racing team who, instead of being paid by their car owner, drives for free and brings with him either personal sponsorship or personal or family funding to finance the team's operations. This may be done to gain on-track experience or to live the lifestyle of a driver in a particular series when one's talent or credentials do not merit a paying ride. Pay drivers are common in many of the feeder series of motorsport, particularly in the GP2 Series, the NASCAR Busch Series, and Champ Car. However, there are pay drivers in Formula 1 (particularly at the Spyker F1 team and until 2006, Minardi) and in Nextel Cup.

Former Formula One drivers Ricardo Rosset and Alex Yoong were notorious for how much money their families spent to finance their F1 racing careers. Them or other pay drivers like Giovanni Lavaggi and Jean-Denis Deletraz are usually associated with a distinct lack of talent compared to those with payed drives. F1 Rejects is a site which showcases the driving career of such driving failures of Formula 1. However, many successful drivers like the legendary Michael Schumacher and the current World Champion Fernando Alonso also started their careers as pay drivers but gradually worked their way up the racing ladder (although it is to be noted that they were regarded as talented drivers before their F1 careers commenced, a trait missing in most typical pay drivers). Pay drivers who are notorious failures in open wheel series also tend to have successes in sports car racing.