'Completely wrong' - Max Verstappen disagrees with salary cap proposals for Formula One drivers

Max Verstappen believes a salary cap on F1 drivers would be 'completely wrong' ahead of Baku Grand Prix on Sunday. Formula 1 introduced a budget cap in 2021 that was lowered further in 2022 to $140m, but driver salaries are not currently included.

Ad/> A working group was set up last year to discuss implementing salary caps for management staff and drivers, and speculation has resurfaced in recent weeks that more elements may be introduced to the current cap. Azerbaijani Grand Prix‘What we are missing now is experience’ – Vettel thinks Masi’s absence is costing Formula 12 HOURS AGO But Verstappen, who recently signed a five-year contract extension with Red Bull reportedly worth £40m, believes a cap on salaries would stifle the sport's popularity.

«It's still all a bit vague. I think no one really knows where it's going to go,» Verstappen said on Friday ahead of first practice in Azerbaijan..

«But from my side, it's completely wrong because I think at the moment F1 is becoming more and more popular and everyone is making more and more money, including the teams, F1 [owners] — everyone is benefiting. 'Unfinished business' for Verstappen ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix 'We couldn't have asked for better' — Perez praised by Red Bull ahead of Baku Grand Prix »So why should the drivers, with their IP rights and everything, be capped, who actually bring the show and put their lives at risk, because we do.

So for me, it's completely wrong." Verstappen added that he believed caps would also hurt the junior categories within F1. «In all the junior categories if you see how many of those drivers have sponsor or a backer, who eventually will have a certain percentage of their income in potentially F1 or wherever,» Verstappen