Formula 1 Discussion - Page 108

On May 22 2022 23:34 Penev wrote:

Absolutely not, the difference between the Red Bull and the Mercedes is still to large for that. It would've been an interesting fight between Hamilton and Russel though.

FERRARI BOSS REJECTS THE HYPE OF A MERCEDES REVIVAL

The hype around the Mercedes F1 team this weekend has been incredible, despite in qualifying their lead car being as far behind the pole sitter in Spain as it was at the first race in Bahrain. Granted Mercedes got worse after the inaugural race being 0.8, 0.9 seconds off pole when the cars actually managed to make it into Q3. In Imola neither achieved that feat.

After the race Toto Wolff told Sky Sports if Hamilton hadn’t been tagged by Magnussen his pace was so good he could have challenged for the win. Lewis implied the same telling the bull pen reporters, “If I hadn’t had the issue at the beginning who knows where we would have been in the end”.But the numbers don’t lie. Russell as lead Mercedes driver ended up 32 seconds off the pace at the chequered flag and two weeks ago in Miami that gap was just 18 seconds.

In fact in the season’s debut weekend in Bahrain Hamilton finished P3 just 9.6 seconds behind the winner.

How is this an improvement?

Group delusion appears to have swamped the Mercedes team and many in the paddock and as Mattio Binotto soberly observed when asked if Mercedes were back in the hunt, “They would have been 50 seconds behind Charles… over 66 laps that’s 6-7 10ths”.

Hamilton received the black and white flag during the race for exceeding track limits multiple times, hardly the signature of a car that is planted and ready to take on the Ferrari and Red Bull’s.

The race winner Max Verstappen had a faulty DRS wing during the race and struggled behind Russell for around 20 laps. If true pace is what we should be examining, without that he would have been down the road as far as Binotto reckons LeCLerc would have been.

Hamilton wanted to stop the car when he found himself in P19 and “save the engine” so it required the team to tell him “P8 or better is possible”. Yet at the end of the race the champion racer grinning told Natalie Pinkerton his motto was “never give up”.

Mmm.

The W13 car this weekend was at it worst in Barcelona through section 3, the low speed corners that require great traction. We’ll see in a few days whether the Mercedes hype has any substance in Monaco where it’s low speed corners everywhere.

On May 22 2022 23:51 Penev wrote:
Oh yeah that gust of wind that made Max go through the gravel might have been what damaged his rear wing/DRS.

On May 25 2022 06:19 Excludos wrote:


But late on the reply: Max had problems with the wing the entire weekend. They even swapped some parts after qualy (for identical ones, which is allowed), but it unfortunately didn't fix the issue. It's likely related to the massive 10kg weight saving measure they've been doing, although it's uncertain exactly what they did or why it caused the wing to jam. It was not related to the actuator itself.

Despite the recent budget cap in force, Formula 1 is well known for its extreme spending, and with that comes the usual entourage of rich celebrities and big business sponsors. Certainly, F1 isn’t shy at showing off its extravagance and unashamed indulgences on a global scale. But you might be surprised to hear that the ‘haves and the have nots’ often work side by side at the track and the Formula One Paddock area; the very biggest earners along with some of the lowest wage employees.

Germany’s Sport Bild newspaper recently published their findings as to who earns the most in F1, along with the lowliest ‘minions’, some of whom no doubt accept the pittance salary or zero wage for the experience of attending and being part of a Grand Prix weekend. You might be surprised by what the publication has claimed.

Sports Bild claims that: “Lewis Hamilton, a record-breaking world champion, is the top earner with an annual salary of around 36 million euros plus bonuses,

“While the stewards guarding the entrance earn six euros an hour,

“For comparison: The British driver, who has an hourly wage of around 4100 euros, would only need a little more than five seconds for this.”

Crazy but not unexpected.


All of the teams offer hospitality to their guests and sponsors; the attendees are often used to the very best in service and expect as much. For the teams, the hospitality staff they employ are quite often students and youngsters keen to gain a foothold in the sport, therefore begin a career in Formula 1 by attending the sponsors and guests. Sports Bild estimates that on average a hospitality staff member earns around 15 Euros per hour, and if retained for the whole season they might expect to bring in approximately 30,000 Euros per annum. At the higher career end of Formula 1 hospitality, for instance, a chef might earn double that at 60,000 Euros per annum.

The very highest earners in Formula 1 obviously work for the biggest teams. Team bosses and directors are only second to the big earning drivers such as Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen. For instance, Christian Horner, team boss of Red Bull, earns around 2.5 million Euros from the Red Bull Racing team directly, but actually makes most of his money as a director of the new engine department, for which he collects another 6.5 million euros.

The grand total means that Horner earns nine million euros a year. The canny Horner and the Red Bull team managed to continue to pay the team boss his large salary by splitting the earnings. Otherwise, his Red Bull earnings are part of the recent budget cap; unless it is to do with the engine, in which case his “Power Unit” salary is exempt and falls outside the cap.





The top earner at Red Bull, however, is the lead driver and current Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman earns around 25 million euros a year since his contract extension until 2028, which he signed before the season.

At the other end of the driver earnings scale, rookies such as Mick Schumacher usually collect between 500,000 and one million euros in their first season. Kevin Magnussen, Mick’s Haas team mate and the fast tracked stand in for the recently banned Russian driver Nikita Masapin, is estimated to also earn around one million euros.

Trackside garage mechanics’ salaries depend on their responsibilities and their positions but on average, they get around 50,000 euros per year. Engineers back at the factory usually would start on a wage of approximately 60,000 euros, but respected and sought after design engineers such as Adrian Newey can easily command a salary of six figures.

If you’re a driver physio, a team member who is perhaps closest to the driver than the actual team they receive their salary from, the average earnings is thought to be between 70,000 and 80,000 euros a year. More famous physios’ such as Lewis Hamilton’s bleach blond New Zealand confidant, Angela Cullen, is said to be paid top dollar and earn an estimated 150,000 Euros per year.



At the other end of the earnings scale is perhaps the biggest surprise, and that is the FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem. The ex Rally driver gives his time for free, much like many of the trackside marshalls who also are rarely paid. The exception is usually found at tracks such as Monaco.

The race officials such as Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich, do not have a fixed salary. They get a small allowance for each race weekend they attend. In addition, the FIA pays the travel costs for them and an accompanying person. Similarly, safety car driver Bernd Mayländer also has no annual salary as such. The safety car driver is self-employed without a fixed contract and much like the race officials, Mayländer is paid per Grand Prix and has his travel expenses reimbursed. But since he is on site at every race, he comes to a low six-figure sum per year. The driver has to insure himself from this amount.