“Hamilton is simply too expensive for Formula 1”- Red Bull chief supports salary cap

“Hamilton is simply too expensive for Formula 1”- Red Bull boss Helmut Marko favours drivers’ salary inclusion in budget caps.

There have been multiple discussions about drivers’ salaries getting included in the budget cap, which will be now a defining moment in Formula 1. The 2021 regulation limits the spending of every team maximum to $145 million.

Supporting the inclusion of drivers’ salaries in the budget cap, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko feels that drivers like Lewis Hamilton are too expensive for F1.

“Hamilton is simply too expensive for Formula 1,” Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man told RTL / ntv. “This is why we need the pilots’ salary to be included in the budget ceiling.”

“Given that in 2021 we will see the introduction of the budget ceiling for the first time in the history of Formula 1, the meeting raised several questions about cost control and how we can achieve this goal in the coming years.”

“As part of that, a working group will be created that will include the drivers to discuss the point of the driver contracts and the team managers.”

F1 has told that they would be looking into the drivers’ salary caps, as it is a matter of utmost consideration while limiting the spending.

Not the only guy in Red Bull to belive in salary cap

While the top brass of Red Bull is now supporting the salary caps, it was Alpha Tauri team principal Franz Tost, who for long also spoke about the need for the salary caps.

Tost recommended that a driver should not be paid more than $10 million a year, and that is more than 4 times less than what Hamilton is earning at Mercedes.

The Briton was once asked what he felt about Tost’s recommendation, and while responding the World Champion failed to recognize Alpha Tauri’s boss.

While a cap on drivers’ salary is under consideration, teams are also puzzled about how to manage their crew, as the top teams complained that it would be forced to do cost-cutting by sacking people.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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