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.
Alternatively, said person is also called a ride buyer or a rich kid in the United States, a gentleman driver in sports car and GT racing and a privateer in Australia.
While the term "gentleman driver" is occasionally applied to racers in such series, this article focuses on the highest-profile professional auto racing categories.
Pay drivers experienced a revival in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as many small constructors like Pacific, Forti, and Rial joined the grid and were desperate for funding.
[1] In general, pay drivers (such as Giovanni Lavaggi, Jean-Denis Délétraz, Nikita Mazepin, Ricardo Rosset, and Alex Yoong) are usually associated with poorer performances compared to those with paid drives.
While a pay driver often brings an infusion of much needed funding, their terms often require share ownership and / or influence in the team's operations.
[6] The lines in this space are somewhat blurred, as several sponsor-backed drivers have attained impressive results in Formula One, including race winners Sergio Perez, Robert Kubica, and Pastor Maldonado, who were backed by Telmex, Orlen, and PDVSA, respectively.
In recent years, Mercedes placed George Russell with its engine customer Williams,[11][12] and Ferrari placed Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi with Alfa Romeo-Sauber.
Impressed by Schumacher's maiden performance, Benetton agreed to sign him for free, wiping out his "pay driver" status after just one race.
[21] During the 2018 season, Williams received £65 million in funding in exchange for allocating its two seats to Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin,[17] but finished last in the standings.
[24] The Super Licence system has occasionally been criticized for slowing promising young talents' path to Formula One.
There are also several pay drivers competing at the Cup level including Matt Tifft and Paul Menard, the son of home improvement tycoon John.
Menard had some success with a victory at the Brickyard 400 in 2011 and a Chase for the Sprint Cup appearance in 2015, while medical issues halted Tifft's racing career in 2019.