“For me, it’s insane,” Max Verstappen firmly stands against the salary cap proposed by F1

“For me, it’s insane,” Max Verstappen firmly stands against the salary cap proposed by F1

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen, the reigning Formula 1 world champion, has vehemently opposed the notion of a driver salary ceiling.

It’s estimated that the Red Bull athlete makes $25 million (or roughly £21 million) a year. He is now the second-highest paid driver on the grid, after only seven-time winner Lewis Hamilton, who earns an estimated £32 million annually.

There is currently no limits on the amount that drivers can be paid in F1, notwithstanding the cost cap that was recently implemented. Recently, it has been recommended that in an additional effort to reduce spending, a cap on drivers’ salaries also be put in place.

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But the suggestion has not gone well with Verstappen, who said the proposal would not just impact current F1 stars, but the financial backers of young drivers coming through the junior categories. He believes that this whole planning by F1 is hurting the drivers, as they are only backed by the team and personal sponsors. He also said that it would make the sport boring for the sponsors, which would lead in the sponsors pulling out from the drivers as well. 

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Sergio Perez agrees with Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen

Max stated that “if you start to cap their future income, they are not [going to be] that interested in supporting them throughout all the categories. And nowadays it is so expensive going through all the categories to get to Formula 1. It will hurt a lot of the lower categories,” as GPblog quoted him. His teammate, Sergio Perez has also agreed with the Dutchman. 

Verstappen thinks that the sport is booming as of now, in which Netflix has a major role to play, because of their Drive to Survive series; so, he does not understand why F1 is trying to cut the costs. 

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