© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says “you can’t have a salary bill in some of the top teams that is 30, 40, 50m when the rest of the team needs to be divided in $140m”.
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about a possible salary cap for drivers in Formula 1, as their salaries are excluded from the current budget cap.
Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Toto Wolff was asked to give his comments.
“Certainly, it has come up as a controversial topic,” the Austrian said.
“We can see that we are facing a very difficult situation in Formula 1 overall. The sport is booming and Formula 1 is earning more money and that trickles down to the teams but we have a cost cap.
“We have $140m for a thousand people. With inflation, we haven’t been able to even pay the inflation and I think the talk about 30 or 40 million dollar salary allowance is inadequate when you take that perspective.
“Now, clearly, the drivers will have an opinion on that and maybe as a driver I would say the same thing but US American leagues, that are the most successful in the world, have introduced salary caps 15 years ago.
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“It works pretty well over there and Formula 1 is looking at it without an immediate solution to it, but I think, like all the other sports in the world, we need to find a way of how we can act sustainably and become independent from sovereign funds or state-owned teams.
“And therefore it is certainly clear that this is going to be one of the main areas because you can’t simply have a salary bill in some of the top teams that is 30, 40, 50m when the rest of the team needs to be divided in $140m.
“But having said that, they are tremendous superstars, they deserve to be among the top earners in the sport.
“In terms of direct salaries they already are and then we need to find a way of unlocking the endorsement… the capability of doing endorsement deals which is two thirds if not more for US American sports teams.
“But certainly, direct salaries, Formula 1 drivers are paid the most,” Wolff concluded.
