Thought I'd update this. A news article came out today saying Force India was looking for a 'fast' driver and not a paying one. It's a difficult argument on whether paying drivers should be in the sport, however it's nice to see a team, publicly anyway, stating that speed is king.
F1 2012 driver salaries
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari €30m
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes €16m
= Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes €16m
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing €10m
= Mark Webber Red Bull Racing €10m
= Felipe Massa Ferrari €10m
= Nico Rosberg Mercedes €10m
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes €8m
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team €5m
10. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham F1 Team €4m
11. Timo Glock Marussia F1 Team €3m
12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber €1m
= Romain Grosjean Lotus F1 Team €1m
14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India F1 €500,000
= Sergio Perez Sauber €500,000
= Vitaly Petrov Caterham F1 Team €500,000
= Pedro de la Rosa HRT €500,000
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams €400,000
= Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso €400,000
= Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso €400,000
21. Bruno Senna Williams €250,000
= Narain Karthikeyan HRT €250,000
23. Paul di Resta Force India F1 €200,000
24. Charles Pic Marussia €150,000
Source
But who's paying for their ride?
Pastor Maldonado - PdVSA
Charles Pic - funding from French former F1 drivers Olivier Panis and Eric Bernard
Romain Grosjean - estimated $5 million through Total
Vitaly Petrov - $5 million per season with SIBUR
Bruno Senna - from firms in Brazil are worth an estimated $18 million
Source