Formula 1 teams disagree about the possible introduction of a salary cap which would restrict how much teams are allowed to pay their top drivers.
After the introduction of Formula 1’s spending limits last season, it was decided that only expenditure relating to car development would be restricted.
In opposition, driver salaries expenditure was considered not to relate to car development and as a result was not included in the cost cap regulation.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was asked to comment on the potential introduction of a driver salary cap in the future and confirmed this idea will be analyzed for the following years:
“That’s a point we started discussing now a month ago together with all the teams, F1 and the FIA,” said Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto on the plan for a driver salary cap.
“We understand the importance to try somehow to cap the overall expenses. Obviously, there is not only the top three personnel in the team [which are not covered by the budget cap], 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. There is not a straightforward solution, especially for the drivers’ salary cap. But we are discussing it and trying to understand a solution. It will not be in the short term, [as] 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 boss explained.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner seemed not very enthusiastic about this option, explaining that Formula 1’s costs need to be reduced from other areas:
“The principle of a cap is well merited. I think the application of it is tricky, and we’re seeing and experiencing that at the moment. There’s a lot of things that need tidying up within the existing cap that we have that’s being rolled out to being an engine cap as well. There’s all kinds of complications with that, again, with companies’ reporting structures, etc, etc. So, there’s many, many complexities, but I think we need to go beyond that. And personally, I think too much weight and pressure is being placed on the cap at the moment. I think you’ve got to look at where your cost drivers are. And I think as Formula 1, we need to do a better job at looking at technical regulations, sporting regulations, because we’re still designing and manufacturing very expensive cars. You know, the engine regulations for 2026. There’s nothing cheap about them, and I think this is what then puts an artificial pressure on the financial regulation. We’re going to end up more with more people in our financial department than we have in the drawing office. What we don’t want to see is that Formula 1 becomes an accounting World Championship rather than a technical or sporting one. I think that we’ve just got to get that balance right and look at revisiting some of the fundamentals. Why does it cost so much to build these cars?” – the Red Bull boss added.
At the same time, Mercedes’ Head of Engineering Andrew Shovlin pointed out that such an idea woud not be easy to apply when it comes to drivers’ salary cap.
“There’s no doubt that a well-thought-out cap can benefit the sport, and those are all areas that we’re looking at to be brought into it in the future and they’ve got to be workable. But then if you look at the situation we’ve got right now, the chassis-side cap came in, and it’s very difficult to see how that’s going to be workable in the current climate. So while they’re very useful topics and on the agendas for very good reason, we need to prove that we can have a cap that works for the teams for the sport, and from my point of view, that would be the priority.” – he explained.
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But while representatives from the top three teams in the 2022 Formula 1 Constructors’ standings do not seemed convinced about a drivers’ salary cap any time soon, the F1 bosses from smaller teams were more interested in this idea.
“This will probably be the next topic on the table,” said Alfa Romeo Team Principal Fred Vasseur. – “It has to come together between drivers and key personnel for sure. I think it’s the right approach to try to coordinate it with the budget and to have perhaps an allowance for this. You could overshoot the limit and you will have to take part of your budget cap, but we have to find something like this because it’s important for the sport. And, at the end of the day, that it also makes sense for the competition. I’m more than pleased to go into this direction. F1 is in very good shape today; it’s in good shape because the show is going up, and also because the FIA and FOM took the right decisions in the last couple of years, but I think that we have to continue into this direction.”
Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer also shared his thoughts on a potential drivers’ salary cap.
“I think Fred’s right that that’s the next step, and I’m in favour of adding that underneath a global cap so that the teams can trade off driver skill with update, because ultimately both bring performance on track,” said Szafnauer. – “And I think for us to have the latitude to be able to trade that off is probably the right thing.”
And McLaren boss Andreas Seidl added his voice to the chorus of those in favour of a salary cap.
“Our position is that everything which is performance relevant should be considered to be in a kind of a cap or allowances, and that’s why we’re open for that discussion, as well,” said Seidl.
“I think it’s not that difficult. I’m sure you will find ways of transition, dealing with that situation. As I said, it’s important to have these discussions now about the details behind closed doors because it is complex. But we know from other sports it’s possible, and that’s how we deal with it.”
Alfa Romeo boss Fred Vasseur felt that it would take a few seasons before such a cap could be introduced.
“In any case, it will be a long-term process that you can’t imagine that it will be in place for 2022 or 2023 – it has to be at least for 2026, perhaps a bit more But again, I’m not sure that we will have the biggest issue on this.” – the Alfa Romeo Team Principal concluded.
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