One has to note though, those paydrivers aren't the best possible people to drive those cars for sure, but many of them are very, very talented drivers - just not enough to be sitting there purely on merit.

We all, for example, made fun of Nikita Mazepin, many calling him Mazespin and such (and hated him for his personality etc.). Even that kid was better (in some ways) than a lot of non-F1 drivers with quite successful racing careers.

There are some embarrassing examples we all know, but I'd say 80% are really good, just not F1 (or 2, 3) level.