Scudria Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has confirmed that discussions have already began regarding the potential introduction of a Formula 1 driver salary cap which would not allow teams to pay their top class drivers more than a specific amount.
When the budget cap rules were finalized and introduced last season, Formula One decided that only the spending relating to car development would be limited. Driver salaries expenditure, meanwhile, was considered not to relate to car performance and therefore is not restricted by the budget cap regulation.
In a similar way, the highest three salaries paid to team members were also excluded, which means that the best car designers engineers or race strategists can still make a difference in the outcome of a Formula One race.
But this could change for the following years, as Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto admitted that teams are now aware of the importance of capping overall expenditure, not just the aspect related to the development and car improvement.
“That’s a point we started discussing now a month ago, together with all the teams, F1 and the FIA,” Mattia Binotto said in a press conference which took place last weekend in Monte Carlo.
“We understand the importance to try somehow to cap the overall expenses. Obviously, there is not only the three top, let me say, key personnel in the team, there is not only the drivers, there is the engine and the power unit as well, for which there will be a budget cap in the future.” – the Italian side’s team principal explained.
At this time there are no specific details about how such a driver salary cap would be enforced, with talks very much in their infancy. Mattia Binotto has confirmed that, if Formula 1 proceeds with this idea and indeed wants to make it happen, it is not something that can be done in a short period of time, taking into consideration the many big-money deals that are already signed and are available well into the future.
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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris have both signed long-term contracts with their teams, while Max Verstappen’s latest Red Bull deal links him to the Austrian team until the end of the 2028 Formula One championship.
“We are discussing it,” Mattia Binotto added – “There is not a straightforward solution, especially for a driver salary cap. We are trying to understand what could be a solution. It will not be in the short-term, the reason for that is we already have contracts in place, and we cannot simply breach them. There are legal implications, certainly to understand how to do that, so it’s a discussion. It’s an important one, we understand it and we recognise it will take time, but certainly we will go through the process.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.
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