A salary cap has been proposed for the most expensive sport in the world; Highest paid Formula One driver comments
If the sport of F1 was a country, it would be a superpower. The GDP within the sport alone, is greater than the vast majority of countries in the world.
Now, F1 is circulating the idea of a salary cap for drivers in the sport. A proposed budget of $30 million has been proposed for the two car operations. One driver could earn $25 million while the second could earn $5 million.
Franz Tost, the AlphaTauri team principal has stated that there must be a limit of $10 million on a single driver. He further added that those drivers should be “happy” just to be driving the high powered racing machines.
“They should be happy that they have this job and that they also earn a little money,” says Tost.
Lewis Hamilton is a 7-time champion in F1. He’s reportedly the highest paid driver in the the sports and all of motorsports.
Lewis Hamilton comments on the proposed F1 salary cap
Recently, Lewis Hamilton was crowned the 2020 series champion, well ahead of the season finale. It marks his fourth driver’s championship in a row.
In a press conference during the race weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton was relayed the comments from Tost.
Hamilton asked for clarification, “Who said that?”
When the name Tost was clarified. Hamilton again asked, “Who’s that?”
Hamilton then added, “I think currently the salary cap is supposed to be implemented, probably, when I am not even here. I do think that the drivers here are naturally the stars of the sport. They’re the ones that are seen, they’re the ones that bring their brands and their reputation helps elevate the sport, helping us travel globally, around the world.”
“If you look at other sports there have been salary caps. I think like the NFL or basketball maybe.
The NFL has a salary cap on the team, as does the NHL. Teams can only spend a certain amount of money, for all players on the team as a whole.
“I think the one difference is in those places, the individuals own their image. So, they can try to maximize their image, elsewhere. This sport pretty much controls the driver’s image.”
“I’m not personally opposed to it, it’s not my decision at the end of the day. But I do think about the next up and coming young stars that are coming through. And I don’t particularly see why they should be handicapped if their bringing something huge to the sport.”
Lewis concluded, “It is a multi-billion dollar sport. They should be rewarded for what they bring to it.”
The race weekend is currently underway. Lewis Hamilton sits at the top of the board with the first practice round complete.
Lewis Hamilton on Franz Tost
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Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes F1 | AlphaTauri | Bahrain Circuit | F1
