Any proposed cap on the salaries of Formulation One drivers must be cautious to not maintain again the game’s prime expertise, newly topped seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton stated on Thursday.
Formulation One has been discussing a cap on driver salaries as a part of a wider effort to degree the monetary enjoying area between the wealthiest and poorest groups on the grid.
“I am not personally against it,” the Briton, who equalled Michael Schumacher’s document haul of seven titles on the final race in Turkey, advised reporters in a video convention name on the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“I do take into consideration the subsequent up and coming younger stars which can be coming by way of and I do not notably see why they need to be handicapped in the event that they’re bringing one thing enormous to the game.”
The game has already agreed a $145 million cap on groups’ general budgets for subsequent 12 months which is ready to cut back additional to $140 million in 2022.
The wage cap, nevertheless, just isn’t part of these measures and remains to be a way away, with a proposal calling for it to be carried out in 2023 put earlier than the Formulation One Fee in October.
“When you take a look at different sports activities, there have been wage caps in a few of these sports activities… I believe the one distinction is that these locations the people personal their picture in lots of areas, they will attempt to maximise their picture elsewhere,” stated Hamilton.
“This sport controls just about the driving force’s picture,” added the 35-year-old, who earns an estimated 40 million kilos ($53.40 million) a 12 months and is in negotiations over an extension to his Mercedes contract which is ready to run out on the finish of this 12 months.
The drivers had been the celebs of the game and Formulation One wanted to recognise that, stated Hamilton, who having surpassed Schumacher’s tally of race wins, podiums and pole positions is now essentially the most profitable driver within the sport’s historical past.
“It’s a multi-billion greenback sport and they need to be rewarded for what they do carry to it,” he added.
