When F1 pay drivers were actually amazing

F1 pay drivers don't have the best of reputations... let's take a look at times where money paid for a seat of some brilliant drivers.

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[Pikktryne]

Lauda was less off a pay driver and more of a debt driver, the balls on the guy though jeez

[trxlt]

Fun fact: by the early to mid-90s, Banco Nacional was basically broke but Senna kept carrying the brand logo and wearing the cap out of loyalty for their help early in his career even though he could get better sponsors. The bank folded a year after Ayrton's death.

Respect to Ayrton for sticking up with those who helped him first.

[christopherbudd]

The first one that came to mind was Lauda

[ScotchPolo]

Surprised there wasn't a mention about Sir Jackie Stewart, considering the family links to Ford dealerships and how he got into F1. I've always said paid drivers keep F1 afloat, it's just that the few that become successful, don't get tarnished with the 'pay driver' stigma like the not so successful ones

[bourkey]

I think it's hard to compare pay drivers of different eras to those of today. However, it certainly does show just how hard it is to crack into F1.

[Mr.Goldbar]

And this video is why I appreciate pay drivers.
Without them the sport would not survive.

[tscheksn]

as an austrian the way you pronounced Sparkassa & Raiffeisen is absulutely hilarious 😂

[ro]

Nobody is against pay drivers, but the sport got so expensive that practicly only drivers that come from a billionaire background can afford it, and a lot of good guys are out of a drive.

[zulubunsen]

Matt was almost on point calling Erste Österreichische "Bank number 1", I first thought he knew it meant "First Austrian". But Raiffeisen doesn't mean second, so I guess it was just a funny coincidence.

[speedgaming]

Rush did an amazing job portraying Lauda’s finesse job at BRM. His negotiations were out of pure desperation

[Dannyt]

It's so fun to hear Matt trying to say the banks names.

[mico]

There's a massive difference between having sponsors believe in you because you show talent, and having a billionaire dad paying for literally anything you ask...

[reinicieoseupc]

Thank you so much for bringing the story of how Senna got to F1... Many Brazilians don't know Senna's past... they think he got to F1, just with his skills... which is partly true...
Unfortunately, the Brazilian media does not disclose the origin of several drivers, for example: Senna, Piquet or Fittipaldi... these families had, or still have, good political relations... and they were always rich families or with some influence.

[shemohda]

"not bad for a number 2 driver" that reference
🔥

[anirudhr]

F1 fans during checo's first f1 season : 'boo paid driver, boo'
10 years later : 'checo's a legend'

[yellowflag]

just so you know, the Ö is pronouced the same way as the noise alonso makes when he thinks of the 2015-17 f1 seasons

[gandalf_thegrey]

4:12
I know the story but every time I listen to Laudas plans back in the days I'm just impressed 1. how convinced he was in his talent and 2. what a madlad he was coming to financials

[BlackFantasy]

I knew about the Schumacher Mercedes deal as well as Perez but the others I wasn't aware of.

Thing is, back in the 80s and early to mid 90s there were so much more teams in F1. Those small teams even needed the money from pay drivers to survive. Today with only ten teams and so much more drivers available it sometimes feels unfair if a pay driver is chosen over talent.
Question still remains if it would be better to have only talented drivers in only ten teams or have 12 or 13 teams with pay drivers? As much as I'd like to see a bigger grid again I'm not sure if the latter would be a better solution.

[jonbell]

let's think about it, both Schumachers paid to get in and one was the best driver ever so let's see what happens

[UKDarkPredator]

Latifi is still amazing. Got the whole TeamLH on ropes