Sauber's Felipe Nasr insists he isn’t a ‘pay driver’

Felipe Nasr insists he isn’t a ‘pay driver’ and thinks more racers should follow his model of having long-term support from a business in their home country.

Nasr is reported to bring £12m to Sauber’s budget thanks to his Brazilian backers, leading some to label him a ‘pay driver’ – a term used for drivers who get a seat due to the money they can bring rather than on raw talent alone.

However, Nasr says it is misguided for anyone to label him in such a way and the Brazilian doesn’t understand why more drivers don’t follow his business model.

“I think it is quite stupid that people think that way. It is really a short way of thinking because I think more countries follow this example of supporting their own drivers,” he told Sky Sports.

“I have been together with Banco do Brasil for the last four or five years, we had a project on my career and we went through every step and I am glad to say I have never had to pay to race.

“When I was 16 I had offers from Red Bull, from Gravity, from other junior programmes, but I chose to go with Steve Robertson and I am still working with him nowadays. By the age of 16 I had my own car, my own salary, my own house, I didn’t have to pay for any championship I participated in.

“I think more people should follow this example and have these kind of companies supporting their own drivers. I think people are just interpreting it in the wrong way.”

After missing out on the points in Austria, Nasr slipped out of the top 10 in the Drivers’ Championship, and while that is still his target for his rookie season, he knows it will be tough.

“I would love to finish in the top 10 of the championship, but I don’t see it happening right now because the other teams are starting to score more frequently now,” he added.

“But to be a positive season is to keep doing what I am doing, finishing more races if I can and grabbing this experience facing different situations. I think I have to live it in every kind of way and I have to say I am already a different driver than I was last year or even January – I feel already that there is so much that I have learnt, that I’ve picked up and that is only increasing.

“That is always a plus for any driver, the more experienced you get, the more you learn and that is going to be a good thing in the future.”