Kaltenborn Defends Drivers With "Pay Driver" Tag

Sauber F1 Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn has defended drivers that have been given the "pay driver" tag and criticised those who use it, saying it is unfair.

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She came to the defense of drivers like Sergio Perez, who she used as an example. The topic has been put firmly back in the spotlight after Martin Whitmarsh said it was "sad" that teams have become so reliant of drivers bringing investment.


She spoke to the official Formula 1 website, saying "All these discussions about ‘pay drivers’ have lost ground a bit for me, what we see is that many partners or sponsors support drivers from the very beginning." 

She used the example of former Sauber driver Perez, saying "A good example is Sergio (Perez). He has been part of the Escuderia Telmex, which is a racing school. They have been supporting him from the very beginning and it is natural that when he enters the pinnacle of motorsports, they come along.

She continued “You have so many top drivers out there who have also brought along their partners who have supported them right from the beginning. You don’t talk about pay drivers in lower series because it is normal that a driver has partners that support him.

"So why not use the same standard in Formula One? Then you wouldn’t have all these pay driver discussions.

"Sure, it would be good for Formula One to look more closely at the costs. We have to do something. Over the years we see that the economic climate is also getting to us. And not just to the smaller teams, but the whole sport. In this environment we cannot expect to always have a high level of income from the commercial rights holder. We really have to find a way to react to this."

Marussia ditched Timo Glock, drafting in heavily sponsored Luiz Razia due to "tough economic times."

She did show concern over the "pay driver" stereotype though "That would not be a good development because Formula One needs to have the best drivers and not necessarily the ones with the money.

"But then one also has to be fair to the young drivers coming in and not immediately label them as pay drivers."