Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore has weighed in on Formula 1‘s cost cap regulations, urging a revamp to include driver salaries within its ambit amid rising costs.
The 2025 season will mark the fifth year that F1 runs under a fixed budget ceiling imposed by the governing body of the sport, the FIA.
Introduced in 2021, with a view of levelling up the playing field between smaller outfits like Haas and Williams, and bigger teams up the grid, the teams were initially restricted to an overall cost cap of $145 million, with this amount coming down to $140.4 million this year.
In its current form, the cost cap includes expenses related to car performance (minus engine-related expenses) such as components, logistics, equipment, and team personnel salaries (excluding salaries of the three highest-paid staff members).
An amalgamation of the cost cap and changing technical regulations has seen the level of competition improve, with a closer grid augmenting the on-track action.
However, Briatore believes that the time has come to revise the financial regulations to meet the stringent demands of modern-day motorsport.
“Formula 1, for sure, is different now. This was a very good idea to have the cost cap for the teams. I believe it should stay,” Briatore told media including Motorsport Week.
“I also believe the salary of the driver should be part of that.”
Why does Briatore want F1 cost cap change?
The 75-year-old also stressed how the current cost cap mandate did not align with the ground realities of F1.
Briatore has been associated with the sport since the late 1980s. Assuming control of Benetton in 1991, he led the team and Michael Schumacher to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.
When the team changed hands, Briatore remained and won two titles for Renault with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.
After the Crashgate controversy in 2008, he was forced to leave the paddock but was brought back into the fold by the Enstone-based team last year.
Naturally, he has seen the sport evolve through multiple eras. And while the racing action has not changed according to Briatore, the only thing getting out of control is the costs related to competing in the sport.
“What I see the difference between my time in Renault and now, the cost really has gone up dramatically,” he explained.
“The races are the same. What you see on television is the same. The fighting between the drivers is the same. The best driver is winning the race – etcetera.
“What we now see is the cost. The cost has increased dramatically. It’s not because the cost increased that the business is better or the show is better. It’s the same.
“The race, for me, is the same. It’s very competitive. We have great drivers. But the costs go up dramatically.”
In fact, Briatore’s call for capping driver salaries is not inherently misguided. For instance, Max Verstappen, who sits atop the list of the highest-paid F1 drivers in 2025, rakes in $65 million from his Red Bull contract – a sum that is not part of the cost cap but accounts for almost half of the $140.4 million cost cap allocation for the Milton-Keynes based squad this year.
“The cost budget cap was a very good idea. I believe we should increase the budget including the salaries of the driver,” concluded Briatore.
“When asked again if he stood by his suggestion to include driver salaries in the cost cap, Briatore firmly responded, “Yeah. Absolutely. Include it.”
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