The topic of pay drivers in F1 is sensitive, and no racer on the grid wants to have this tag. Pay drivers refer to those who usually secure a race seat after helping a team secure a massive investment in return. Many believed that Lando Norris was one such driver because of his $250,000,000 worth father, Adam. However, the 23-year-old revealed in a recent interview with racefans.net about how desperate he was to get rid of this tag.
The young Briton was desperate to prove to everyone that he secured a race seat in F1 on his own merit. It is for this reason that he made a deal with his father that he would receive no financial backing.
Norris explains why he never wanted people to categorize himself as a “pay driver“
While speaking in an interview with racefans.net, Lando Norris explained how he does not see “pay drivers” as racers who are deserving of an F1 seat. “I would never want to pay to come into F1; I would never want my dad to have done that. I personally just don’t see that as the most deserving way of being in Formula 1,” he stated.
The 23-year-old then explained how he had made a deal with his father that he would never want to get sponsored to make it to F1. Norris then explained how he is incredibly proud of himself for how he has made it to F1.
The Briton worked his way up as he won the British Young Driver Award before finally making it to F1 with McLaren, a sport where only 20 of the greatest in the world compete against each other. While Norris has stated that his father never paid for him to get to F1, a report states that it was only many years later that the Briton got rid of his “pay driver” status.
Lando Norris got rid of his “pay driver” status recently
According to Business F1, Adam Norris made a huge investment of $44,000,000 on his son to get to F1. The report states that Adam spent such a massive sum to not only help his son secure a seat at McLaren but also help the Woking-based outfit overcome their own financial struggles.
However, with the 23-year-old impressing at McLaren, the report states that the team has now paid Adam the amount back he had invested to help his son secure a seat. Hence, the young Briton is no longer a “pay driver.”
