Ferrari team boss Matia Binotto sees no easy solution for a driver salary cap, but others want a cap
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto sees no easy solution to the dispute over a possible cap on drivers’ salaries in Formula One. Indeed, this has been repeatedly mooted in recent months, but is not currently part of the budget cap that has been in place since 2021 – just like the salaries of the three best-paid employees.
“We are talking about it and trying to understand what a solution could look like,” says Binotto, but does not see a short-term approach: “We already have existing contracts and cannot simply break them. There are legal consequences,” says the Italian.
2023 was once considered a possible starting point for a salary cap, but there are already some drivers who have contracts with a longer term. At Ferrari, for example, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are tied down until 2024, while Max Verstappen even has a contract with Red Bull until 2028 – possibly with the impending cap in mind.
This is expected to bring him up to an estimated 50 million euros a year and would go a long way towards breaking the planned salary cap of 30 million US dollars (28 million euros) for both drivers in one team.
His team boss Christian Horner thinks the motivation behind the limit is “well deserved”, but the implementation is “difficult”. He warns that Formula 1 must not degenerate into a “world championship for accountants”.
“There are a whole range of things that need to be tidied up within the existing cap,” Horner says, also addressing the planned limit on engines. “Again, there are all sorts of complications with company reporting structures and so on. “
Alpine and Alfa Romeo for limit
The salary cap for drivers is supported by some teams, including Alfa Romeo and Alpine. “It’s the right approach to try to coordinate it with the budget and maybe have a margin for it,” said Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur.
“You could go over the limit and then you would have to deduct a part of the budget, I don’t know. But we have to find something like that because it’s important for the sport,” said the Frenchman.
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer is also in favour, saying that a team would then have to decide whether to trade rider quality for bigger updates if, for example, they had to refinance excessive salaries from the normal budget limit. “Because in the end both bring performance on the track. For us, that kind of leeway would probably be the right thing.”
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl can see from other sports such as basketball or American football that such a ceiling can work. “On the other hand, it is also important to continue the talks behind closed doors. There is no point in talking publicly now about how this could work. “
