Jenson Button has earned his rewards but he is still one of the lucky ones.

While the Formula One world champion faces the difficult decision of whether to go to McLaren on six million pounds a year or stay with Brawn/Mercedes for what still amounts to a salary of lottery proportions, other drivers are not so fortunate.

With the departure of leading manufacturers and the effects of the global credit crunch, next year’s starting grid will see the return in numbers of a once familiar species that has been almost extinct in recent years — the paying driver.

They may not be obvious, and all will have the mandatory super-licences, but they will be there nonetheless.

Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late triple champion Ayrton, has the name and the personality to get plenty of attention next year when he races for the new Campos Meta team.

He was also runner-up in GP2 last year.

Despite his attributes, he will still not be getting a salary from the team.

“They are not paying me. The way I am getting paid is from personal sponsors and sponsorship deals that we do with them,” he told Reuters. “I think I am in a privileged position where I don’t have to necessarily take money to the team to have a contract. Every other team I spoke to there was some sort of financial commitment to be done,” he added.

“I believe that every other (new) driver who is going into Formula One next year will either have to be part of the driver development programme or be taking some sponsorship in.”

Campos would like Senna’s team mate to be experienced Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa but he needs backers and that is proving difficult.

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, backed by his country’s state oil company, and Russian Vitaly Petrov are well ahead of the McLaren reserve.

Part of taking the cost of competing back to the levels of the early 1990s also means taking the sport back to the days when wealthy individuals could secure a drive ahead of someone with maybe more to offer on the track but less in the bank.

Pedro Diniz, a Brazilian supermarket tycoon’s son, was a case in point.

Immortalised by the tabloid headline ‘Diniz in the Oven” after his car was engulfed in flames (he emerged unscathed), he scored 10 points in 98 starts with the occasional strong performance. He ended up with almost a cult following,  even if his fellow racers were less appreciative.

Money has always mattered in Formula One, as much as anything as a way of keeping the score. Just ask Bernie Ecclestone.

“I’m not motivated by money, but equally that is one of the ways drivers are ranked in the sport,” Britain’s 1996 champion Damon Hill said years ago. “And if you offer to drive for nothing, then that is your perceived worth as a Formula One driver.”

Button might second that.  Others, unfortunately, have less choice in the matter.

PHOTO: Bruno Senna of Brazil waits in Oreca 01 AIM during the last warm up session few hours before the Le Mans 24 Hour sportscar race in Le Mans, central France, in this June 13, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe