The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

couple of seconds in the second session,

but he was still a couple of tenths down

on Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver,

who collected a couple of impressive

wins early in the season but who has

lost ground since through a combina-

tion of bad luck and race-strategy

errors by his team.

Practice was a messy affair for a num-

ber of teams with a succession of cars

making unplanned excursions down

the track’s escape roads. For Lewis

6 1GS Saturday June 11 2022 | the times

Sport Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula One can be a fractious and
divisive world, but all the backbiting
and bitterness appeared to have evapo-
rated in Azerbaijan yesterday as the
world’s leading drivers stood united in
their opposition to the notion that their
salaries should be limited.
The idea has been on the table for
some time and seemed to acquire a
certain logic with the introduction at
the start of this season of an overall
budget cap for the teams — at present
set at $140 million (about £114 million)
— to make the sport more competitive.
The suggestion is that a cap of
$30 million (£24 million) across two
drivers in each team would level the
playing field even more.
But while most of us could just about
manage on the smallest portion of that,
the drivers could scarcely have looked
more uncomfortable with the proposal
had you sprinkled chilli sauce inside
their fireproof underwear before free
practice around the Baku track.
One after another they queued up to
condemn the injustice of it all, arguing
that the sport as a whole would be
damaged by such a development.
Poor little rich kids? Well, yes, there
was maybe a bit of that, perhaps even
quite a lot of that, but there was a com-
mon underlying theme to their opposi-
tion that related to the way a driver gets
into F1 in the first place. A fortunate few
have starry-eyed parents to bankroll
their way to the top; most others, how-
ever, rely on the support of sponsors
and investors who, ultimately, will be
looking for a return if and when their
investment pays off.
“It is difficult enough to get into
Formula One at all,” Lando Norris, the
McLaren driver, said. “If you have the
backing of an investor, they will obvi-
ously want their money back at some
point. If it gets capped, it will be much
harder and people will be less interest-
ed in investing in young drivers.”
Pierre Gasly, of AlphaTauri, echoed
Norris’s sentiments. “We know it is an
expensive sport to make it to Formula

Driver rebellion over plan

Alasdair

Reid

Laps 51

Circuit length

6.003km

Race distance

306.049km

Lap record 1min 43.009sec

Charles Leclerc (2019)

Tomorrow

TV Live on Sky Sports

F1/Main event from 11.55pm

Race starts 12pm

Highlights Channel 4,

6.30pm

DRS zone

Drivers Team Points

Constructors

1 2 3 4 5 6

Points

M Verstappen Red Bull 125

C Leclerc Ferrari 116

S Pérez Red Bull 110

G Russell Mercedes 84

C Sainz Ferrari 83

L Hamilton Mercedes 50

L Norris McLaren 48

V Bottas Alfa Romeo 40

E Ocon Alpine 30

K Magnussen Haas 15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

Red Bull 235

Ferrari 199

Mercedes 134

McLaren 59

Alfa Romeo 41

Alpine 40

>>>

Canada (Circuit

Gilles-Villeneuve),

June 19

Great Britain

(Silverstone Circuit),

July 3

Austria (Red Bull

Ring), July 10

Next three races

Race 8 Azerbaijan,

Baku City Circuit

One,” the Frenchman said. “We’re

talking big numbers. You need financial

support. People need to take risks to

invest in you. It is normal that these

people expect returns.

“If we start to put a salary cap on, it is

not going to encourage these people to

help young drivers. I don’t think that by

moving in that direction we’re going

to give more opportunities to young

talent without financial backing.

“We have got to be careful on that

side. The knock-on effect it will have on

the younger guys and young

talents will not be beneficial

for the entire sport.”

So much for noble

opposition. There is also

a degree of cynicism,

rooted in the fact that

the salary cap has

turned up on the agen-

da at a time when inter-

est in F1 has been piqued

by the Netflix docu-

mentary series Drive to

Survive and the economics of the

sport have finally been knocked into a

shape that allows teams a bit of

breathing space.

Hence the wry comment of

Sebastian Vettel, the four-times world

champion who now drives for Aston

Martin, who observed: “It is a funny co-

incidence that the first time teams can

actually make money racing in

Formula One something like the salary

cap for drivers pops up. Isn’t that

funny?”

Max Verstappen, the reigning cham-

pion, put it less cryptically. “From my

side it’s completely wrong,” he said. “At

the moment F1 is becoming more and

more popular, and everyone is making

more and more money, including the

teams. Everyone is benefiting.

“So why would the drivers — with

their IP [intellectual property] rights

and everything — be capped,

the ones who actually bring

the show and put their

lives at risk? It’s com-

pletely wrong.”

With a crisp new

two-year contract with

Red Bull, one believed

to have lifted his annual

wage by about $3 mil-

lion, Sergio Pérez is cer-

tainly not fretting over the

finances at the moment. The

Mexican secured his first win of

the season at Monaco a fortnight ago

and he has looked in fairly good shape

on the Baku track where he won this

event last year.

Pérez set the fastest time in the first

free practice session, completing a lap

of the 3.7-mile street circuit in just over

1min 45sec. He bettered that time by a

Azerbaijan

Grand Prix

Baku City Circuit

Tomorrow, start 12 noon

TV: Sky Sports F1/

Main Event