Salary cap has big consequences for Hamilton and Verstappen

Formula 1 is about to introduce a limit for the salary of its drivers. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen seem to be the biggest victims of this new rule.

In recent years, Formula 1 has been busy reducing the enormous costs of the sport. The gap between the rich teams and the smaller teams has become so big that races are becoming more and more predictable. By putting a cap on the costs, the gap remains limited.

Formula 1 already did this by introducing a budget cap, which allows teams to spend only 122 million euro per season. However, this does not include the costs for the drivers, but the sport wants to change that. Where drivers were able to ask for more money in the past years, this will soon stop.

According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Liberty Media wants to present a proposal for this salary cap in the near future. It would be an overall cap for both drivers of 25 million euros. This amount is the maximum amount that can be spent on the two drivers and the reserve drivers.

Red Bull Racing and Mercedes are the teams that don't meet these demands. Mercedes alone pays around 46 million euros to Lewis Hamilton and also gives over 6 million euros to Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull reportedly loses 22 million euros to Max Verstappen, while Sergio Perez gets 4 million per year. For Red Bull, it has considerably fewer consequences than for Mercedes. However, according to the Italian newspaper, Verstappen also earns around 30 million euros.

At this moment it is still unknown when the salary cap should take effect. In any case, it will have big consequences for teams in Formula 1. Two star drivers in the ranks are no longer possible with this cap, or both drivers would have to agree to a reduced income. However, the preference for teams will probably go to one big salary for the top driver, and one lower salary for an experienced second man or young talent.