Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed the future implementation of a drivers’ salary cap is far from a done deal due to the “legal ramifications” involved.
The news came as a surprise to the most highly paid driver on the grid in Lewis Hamilton who is believed to earn around $30m each season on his own.
It led to the six-time F1 champion calling for the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers’ Association] to “work closely with F1, and get into discussions”.
“But it is far from being a set of regulations because there are all sorts of legal ramifications that need to be looked at before we found out if it is implementable.”
Horner has explained there is a workaround involving the budget cap that is due to be introduced from next year set at $145m. From 2023, the potential introduction of a driver salary cap, that figure drops to $135m.
“Of course, if a team chooses to spend more than the [drivers’ salary] cap, it comes out within the [budget] cap so it is not, therefore, limiting the amount a driver can earn,” added Horner.
“It is just simply dictating to the team that there would be a maximum allowance for the drivers and anything beyond that would have to be out of the chassis cap.”
Source and image: gp.fans.com