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“F1 Not the Best Paying Industry Anymore”: Adrian Newey Flags Loss of Talent Owing to Budget Cap

Anirban Aly Mandal
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NEWEY Adrian (gbr), Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, portrait during the Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024, 12th round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship

Legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey has seen many eras of the sport, having worked in it for more than three decades. However, today the Briton is seeing the allure of working in F1 decreasing, and he blames two regulations imposed by the FIA to be at the root of the problem.

The first gripe he has is with the length of the technical regulations. But more importantly, it is the cost cap. Though Newey agrees with the fundamental objectives of introducing the cost-cap — which is to provide a level playing field for all the teams — he believes it has also led to a big loss of talent.

“Formula 1 is actually not the best-paying industry anymore,” he told AMuS’ Michael Schmidt. Newey highlighted this being one of the “hidden penalties” of the cost cap and has decreased the willingness of people to ply their trade in the sport.

But where do these people then go? While the cost cap has tied the hands of F1 teams, other racing categories like the World Endurance Championship (WEC) have seen an inflow of personnel owing to their salary structure. Furthermore, many people have left the F1 paddock to pursue a career in non-racing ventures, too, according to Newey.

Is F1 losing its creative edge in its latest era?

The other big issue that Newey has with the current state of affairs in Formula 1 is the highly detailed technical regulations. He recalled his first year in the sport when the 1973 regulations were about only four pages long!

Today, the regulations are so stringent that engineers, such as himself, have lost that creative freedom to design cars that have that edge. Naturally, this will also have a long-term trickle-down effect in terms of the popularity of the sport itself.

Formula 1 fans are very interested in the innovativeness that takes place on the track. Brawn GP’s genius double-diffuser saw them win the 2009 title, and it endeared fans to the sport and that team. This simply isn’t possible today with the level of detail and restrictions encapsulated in modern regulations.

Post Edited By:Vidit Dhawan

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal

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Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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