Formula 1 recently voted in favor of the engine freeze that Red Bull have been requesting for some time now. This led to confirmation that Red Bull and Honda have come to an official agreement that would enable Red Bull to take over Honda’s F1 program at the end of the 2021 season. This along with the budget cap have been two of the few significant changes many F1 teams have been wanting. That leaves a cap on driver salary pending and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has now given his opinion

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0:00 - Hamilton Too Expensive For F1
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Hamilton Too Expensive For F1

Marko began by addressing the deal with Honda

“We have been discussing this topic with Honda for some time and following the FIA’s decision to freeze power unit development from 2022, we could at last reach an agreement regarding the continued use of Honda’s hybrid power units”

He then thanked Honda

“We are grateful for Honda’s collaboration in this regard and for helping to ensure that both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri continue to have competitive power units”

He further explained the need for such a bold move

“The establishment of Red Bull Powertrains Limited is a bold move by Red Bull but it is one we have made after careful and detailed consideration. We are aware of the huge commitment required but we believe the creation of this new company is the most competitive option for both teams”

He then addressed Lewis Hamilton’s purported salary after his contract renewal with Mercedes while speaking to RTL

“Hamilton is simply too expensive for Formula 1. That's why the driver's salaries should also be included in the "cost cap"”


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Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard feels that “this is going to be a crucial season for” him as “it will be” his “second year in Formula 2 and for a third chance you need a rich father”

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed that they “have issues with Ferrari employees coming to Banbury to start up the engines because they would need to quarantine”

This is because they “cannot afford that timewise, so” they “decided to do the fire up in Bahrain”

He also added that they “want to attack and finish in the top five of the constructors' championship. That is why” they “are already concentrating on next year's car in the wind tunnel”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has wondered if the future of F1 engines is “electric? Is it some form of hybrid? Is it even hydrogen?”

What he is “comfortable in is that F1 will continue to develop in whichever way the world goes”

He is also “not worried about whether F1 will be out of date in ten years. F1 always moves with the times”

2016 world champion Nico Rosberg feels that Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel “needed a change, because he was in a negative spiral at Ferrari and that was not a nice experience at the end”

Rosberg is also happy for Vettel as he feels that “he will again be the hero who is celebrated. With success he can just be the same again. He is still one of the best”

The Portuguese GP has been officially confirmed for the 2021 season

The FIA has released a statement confirming that “a high-level working group has been established including current and potential Power Unit manufacturers and fuel suppliers”

They also stated that “all teams recognized the major importance of engaging fans in new and innovative ways to ensure an even more exciting weekend format”

“There was, therefore, broad support from all parties for a new qualifying format at some races, and a working group has been tasked with creating a complete plan with the aim to reach a final decision before the start for the 2021 Championship”

F2 driver Guanyu Zhou has explained how “in the past, drivers who finish in the top three in Formula 2 move on to Formula 1 the following year”

He further thinks that if he “can do that”, he has a “good chance of moving up to Formula 1”

Former F1 driver Pastor Maldonado has revealed that joining Lotus in 2014 “was a very logical choice. They had big names as sponsors, as well as brands with an interest in” his country

However, later it became “a very different team. Eric Boullier had left the team, everyone was gone. There was a lot of stress and” they “didn't know what to do”

“The simulator was stopped because there was no money to reactivate it. And in the simulator, there were only two or three circuits uploaded, because each circuit cost 20,000 euros”


Should driver salaries be included in the F1 cost cap?