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Flavio Briatore Unveils Bold Plan to Boost Smaller F1 Teams
Highlights
- Flavio Briatore calls for stronger F1 cost cap including driver salaries.
- Current cap excludes driver and top staff wages, aiding bigger teams.
- Budget cap rose from $145 million to $215 million after car changes.
- Top drivers earn $60-70 million, reducing funds for car development.
- Briatore urges including hidden costs to level playing field in F1.
- Discussion on cost cap changes ongoing ahead of 2026 F1 season.
Flavio Briatore urges Formula 1 to strengthen its cost cap, including driver salaries, to help smaller teams compete, speaking during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
As Alpine advisor and former team boss, Briatore argues current rules miss key expenses, undermining the cap’s intent to constrain competitive spend.
The cap arrives in 2021 at $145 million, reduced from $175 million for COVID, then rises to $215 million after technical changes to the cars.
However, driver pay sits outside the cap, as do salaries for each team’s three highest‑paid staff and several ring‑fenced operational items.
That exclusion distorts comparisons. Max Verstappen reportedly earns about $70 million, while Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari deal is around $60 million, none counted within team budgets.
Top driver salaries remain outside the cost cap, amplifying resource gaps between F1 teams.
Bringing those wages under the limit would immediately compress available headroom for development, forcing trade‑offs between aerodynamic gains, reliability upgrades, and personnel.
Briatore also notes established teams bank long‑standing infrastructure built pre‑cap, preserving advantages that smaller entrants struggle to erode despite regulated spending.
He advocates broader financial controls and closer scrutiny of team valuations and spending, echoing calls to examine how capital structures shape competitiveness, as explored in analysis of teams’ value.
“We need to make it much stronger, and we need to include the drivers.” — Flavio Briatore
Any revision must dovetail with the 2026 reset, when new power units and chassis rules reshape cost pressures and resource priorities, aligning with Briatore’s wider view of F1’s shift.
For smaller operations such as Haas, narrowing exemptions could unlock incremental performance by reallocating budget from salaries to car development.
F1’s budget cap rose from $145m to $215m to accommodate new car regulations and inflationary pressures.
The debate remains active, with teams and the FIA weighing fairness against commercial realities. Strengthening the framework could tighten competition without undermining long‑term sustainability.
Visual Summary
DRIVER $ INCLUDED
Big Team 🏢
Small Team 🐾
Briatore: “Make F1’s Cost Cap STRONGER—Level the Race”
Current Cap: $215M*
Star Salaries EXCLUDED:
Verstappen $70M / Hamilton $60M
Verstappen $70M / Hamilton $60M
🐾 Small teams left chasing
“At a certain point, we need to make it much stronger, and we need to include the drivers.”
— Flavio Briatore
— Flavio Briatore
Every year, star driver salaries and top staff wages remain outside the official cost cap—giving wealthy teams an invisible advantage.
Briatore wants Formula 1 to add those costs, so the race is about engineering, not budgets.
Briatore wants Formula 1 to add those costs, so the race is about engineering, not budgets.
Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.
