The salary limit that Formula 1 wants to impose on drivers has not gone down well and the world champions on the grid have clearly positioned themselves against it. Some even fear that this affects young drivers.
To Formula 1 It has been good for him to apply a budget limit to the teams on the grid, as it has meant that all of them have the capacity to generate profits. But the category does not want to stop there and, in addition to continuing to reduce said spending cap, it now wants to apply a salary limit to the drivers.
Something that Fernando Alonso recently criticized, arguing that Formula 1 was earning more money than ever, among other things, thanks to the commercial and promotional use it makes of the drivers.
“It’s a suggestion, but I can imagine what the answer would be”
Now the others three gridiron world champions They have followed the path marked out by the Spanish driver, stating that they consider it a total mistake to try to implement a salary limit in Formula 1.
“From my point of view, it is completely wrong”says Max Verstappen. “I think at the moment F1 is becoming more and more popular and everyone is making more and more money, including the teams and FOM (Formula One Management).”
“Everyone is benefiting. So why should pilots (salaries) be capped, with their intellectual property rights and all? In fact, we put on the show and put our lives on the line, because eventually we do. That’s why, for me, it’s completely wrong », she argues.
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The current champion even points out that it could be difficult for young drivers to find sponsors, as they will fear being able to recover their investment in the future.
“Also in all the junior categories, look at how many drivers have a sponsor that will have a certain percentage of their income in F1 or whatever. I think it’s going to limit that a lot, because they’ll never get their money back.. And if you put a cap, it will also affect all the junior categories and I don’t think you want that.
The greed of Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton has also spoken on this matter, noting that “many of us have invested a lot when we were young and have had to pay it back, which you would naturally want to do anyway. So that for sure could be affected.”
“You also have to remember that this sport is going from being a business of 4 or 6,000 million dollars to one of 14,000 million dollars, points out the seven-time world champion. “It is constantly growing and teams are making more money than ever, and we’re a big part of that. I won’t be here much longer, but I do think about the younger generation and I don’t think they should be limited.”
Sebastian Vettel has been even more acidic and sarcastic, noting that “it’s wrong to have a salary cap for the reasons Lewis mentioned. I think it’s interesting if you see where this proposal comes from.”
“Obviously we now have a budget cap, which pushes the model towards profit for all teams,” recalls the Aston Martin driver. “And I think that maybe they should have a cap on certain fixed earnings and everything else should go to a group to do great things and have a positive impact. That’s a suggestion, but I can imagine what the answer would be.”
“But isn’t it a funny coincidence that the first time teams can make money from Formula 1 racing, something like the salary cap for drivers comes along? It’s not funny?”Sebastian Vettel concludes.
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool