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I think there is a difference between a driver who can bring sponsorship because they're either a rising star or talented and/or they're marketable for a company and a "pay" driver like stroll or Perez, who bring money because of family or government-backed businesses wanting a driver from their country on the grid or something like that.
If you look at it in other sports, if a lesser funded team brought in players who were not as good because they took a lot less money because they were rich, that would be a "pay" player. But a baseball player like mike trout, or football player like tom Brady or nba player like lebron james all have sponsors, but it's because they're real good and marketable. LeBron james wasn't drafted first solely because he was marketable, but because he was great. But he was sponsored before being drafted (I think).
The distinction comes somewhere along the lines of: did you get the opportunity because of money or talent? Would Perez have gotten a shot without money? I don't know, but kinda doubt it. Stroll definitely wouldn't have. Kvyat? Others that have sponsors likely still would have though, based on talent.
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