Amid the new - and reduced - budget limit, teams and Formula 1 are trying to find alternatives to comply with the spending cap. And the idea of limiting salaries has met with severe resistance from drivers
The concept of the salary cap is very common in the sports leagues of the United States and Oceania. The idea of limiting how much salary athletes receive for a certain period of time is justified in order to create less inequality between competitors and to control costs.
This idea has now reached Formula One, which is facing a new, reduced budget limit. As part of its new technical regulations, the category has put in place a new spending cap for 2022: an amount of US$140 million, about US$5 million less than in 2021. F1's spending cap, however, is currently limited to each team's overhead spending on development facilities and engineering members. The top three salaries paid to key staff members also do not enter into the bill.
Meanwhile, the teams on the grid are under pressure to comply with the budget ceiling. With Russia invading the Ukraine and inflation rising due to the war, some teams are unlikely to be able to meet the spending requirement, as they would have to make severe cuts to stay within the rule. Against such a background, proposals to introduce a salary cap for drivers have resurfaced.
"This is a point we started discussing a month ago, together with teams, F1 and the FIA. There is no direct solution and it won't be in the short term. The reason for this is that we already have contracts in place and we cannot simply break such agreements - there are legal implications," revealed Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, explaining the idea - which meets a lot of resistance from the drivers.
"I'm not a big fan of the idea," said Valtteri Bottas, as he said he hopes the proposal "doesn't go ahead." "The drivers still need to get something out of it. Maybe we can reduce the salary of the crew chiefs. We'll see. If it's fair for the bosses and drivers, then fine," added the Finn.
"I don't know who came up with this idea and what their intention is. I don't know if it will happen. Maybe the teams want to make even more money," Sebastian Vettel suggested. Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, further rejected the salary cap idea.
"I don't think it's necessary. The drivers have always been excluded from discussing this topic. They are using us to promote Formula One more and more. We do more and more events, we are in contact with fans and the paddock in general every day. They ask us for more and they benefit from that," said the two-time world champion.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, for example, have the highest salaries on the grid. The seven-time world champion, 37, should not be affected by any future measures in this regard. On the Dutchman's side, his manager Raymond Vermeulen called a possible salary cap "complete nonsense" and also said that the proposal ignores "the fact that drivers have a value-added effect on teams.
As far as team bosses are concerned, apparently, the idea is not one of total contempt. Alfa Romeo's Fréderic Vasseur pointed out that any such measure will have to be implemented in the long run. "It will be a process unimaginable for 2022 or 2023. It would have to happen at the very least in 2026," he said. McLaren representative Andreas Seidl told that the driver salary cap would be "complex" but made room for the proposal. "We know from other sports that it is possible," he summarized. Let's wait and see.