Formula 1 is divided on driver salary caps

The pay cut is a wish from the FIA ​​and Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder to Formula One, following the annual budget limit imposed on each team last year – $145 million in 2021 and $140 million dollars this year. .

And while there has already been a wide-ranging, all-round debate about the impact of runaway inflation on corporate spending, with the first three calling for a budget increase and the other seven responding, the debate is over the pay cap for drivers and top aerodynamics and team leaders. This salary cap applies to several other sports, such as American football and rugby.

Scuderia Ferrari CEO Matthias Binotto confirmed that the issue had recently been raised between the teams – with reports the amount discussed included a total limit of $30 million for the two drivers on each team. Anything over $30 million will be deducted from each team’s budget. However, Binoto warned that there is no simple and clear solution to introducing a wage cap.

“We are discussing it and trying to understand what a solution could be”, Binoto stressed. “It will not be a short term solution as we already have contracts and cannot easily breach them. There are legal implications, we need to understand how it can be done, so let’s discuss that. But we will undoubtedly go through this process.”

Highlighted by Max Ferstappen, who has already signed a $50 million-a-year contract with RBR until the end of 2028, the majority of F1 drivers already have an active contract for 2023. Charles Leclair and Carlos Saint signed with Ferrari at the end of 2024 .

Alpine F1 Director Otmar Zafnauer stressed: “I’m in favor of setting this threshold below the budget threshold so that teams can choose between their driver’s skills and the development of their car. Because these two parameters ultimately bring performance to the track. “Having that option is the right thing to do in my opinion.”

Zafnauer’s driver Fernando Alonso – the third-highest paid F1 driver with a $25 million annual contract – responded by saying that F1 was considering introducing a driver’s pay cap at a time when “demands more and more of us”. Keep in mind that the GP of the season has gone from 19 to 22 in recent years and could reach 26 in the years to come.

“I do not believe that [το όριο] It is necessary “said the Spanish billionaire world champion. “Riders have always stayed out of that discussion and I think they’re increasingly using us to encourage it Formula 1. We play more games and have more contact with the spectators. They ask us more and more and they gain from it. So we have to stay away from that border. It is very complicated. ” Alonso closed.

Lewis Hamilton has also recently spoken out against imposing a salary cap on F1 drivers, saying it could negatively affect the careers of the sport’s youngest stars.