Just days after Sir Lewis Hamilton agreed on a one-year extension contract with Mercedes for the 2021 F1 season, comments have been made about introducing a cap on driver’s salaries going forward.
Hamilton’s contract will see the driver earn $30million a year plus bonuses and sponsorship endorsements.
Right now, driver’s salaries are not included in planned caps being introduced this season which sees teams only able to spend a max of $145 million per year.
Over the coming years, it is expected that a cap on the salary of each driver will be brought in, with reports suggesting that teams will have $30 million to be distributed between both drivers.
Helmut Marko has voiced his opinion of the matter and is all for capping their wages.
Speaking in an interview with RTL/ntv the Red Bull Advisor said:
“Hamilton is simply too expensive for Formula 1.
“That’s why the drivers’ salaries should be included in the cost cap.”
“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.”
During a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission earlier this week, it was announced that contracts for drivers and senior team management would be discussed in terms of bringing them into the budget cap.
An FIA statement read: “As 2021 sees the introduction of a cost cap for the first time in Formula 1, various topics around controlling costs and how this overall objective can be achieved over the coming years were tabled during the meeting.
“As part of this, a working group will be created – including the drivers themselves – to discuss the topic of driver and senior team management contracts.”
