Formula 1 Salaries: Anything But Money For Nothin'

“Money for nothin' and your chicks for free.”

Dire Straits’ lyrics may be lost, yet they are not forgotten. This British rock band who emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, recorded numerous albums prior to quietly dissolving in 1995. Their Brothers in Arms album featured a song titled "Money for Nothin.’"

Mark Knopfler’s band commented on the very business they were in—the simplistic interpretation of the song is that money is simple to attain as long as a person knows how to play the guitar, drums, or simply sing. 

In reality, Mark most likely addresses that very misconception that being in a band is not easy; running a band at a professional level is harder than most can imagine and running a successful band is a job.

People’s idea of a job or career is quite set; in most people’s eyes a position such as lawyer, doctor, pilot is considered a job, while the position of actor, musician, sports athlete as a career is hard to fathom.

Moreover, if the average person accepts such careers as proper jobs, the next point of contention relates to the salary level.

Most people will argue that an athlete’s salary is unreasonable. Perhaps a baseball player should not be making the millions and perhaps an actor’s salary is quite simply blown out of proportion. 

Yet, a Formula 1 driver’s salary is not. 

A Formula 1 driver’s salary is well-earned.

And before the salary can be noted as being justified, the nature of a Formula 1 driver’s job must be dissected. 

Throughout the summer the driver, employed by a Formula 1 team, spends his time juggling his responsibilities of driver, spokesperson, team representative, test subject and numerous other positions. 

The driver will rarely be granted personal time in this busy schedule, and if they are granted this rare opportunity, any personal time tends to be limited and censored as the driver still remains a representative of any product he endorses.

Any mistakes made may result in the driver’s dismissal, and/or loss of a team’s sponsor.

While the average person may get two to five weeks of vacation, a Formula 1 driver is not granted that opportunity. After a Formula 1 season, the driver must maintain their workout regime, participate in winter testing, appear at the launch of the new car and appear at numerous sponsor-related events.

While people such as Flavio Briatore, Enzo Ferrari, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, or Ron Dennis became the identifiers of their respective teams these days the average fan is far more familiar with the Lewises, Fernados, Felipes, Sebastians and even Michaels.

Whether it is pre, post, or in season, the drivers are the face of the team.  

The sponsors are fully aware of this fact; Martin Whitmarsh will not be paid that huge sponsorship money, but rather Lewis or Jenson will. The sponsors understand that it is Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Button that get the exposure. 

Yes Team McLaren may be responsible for making the drivers competitive, but people follow the drivers and not the engineers. As a result, it is the drivers that generate further sponsorship; the drivers now become salespeople to bring in potential sponsors, to bring in further income for the team. 

The driver’s perfomance and behaviour on and off the track results in improving the status a team may find themselves in. This idea can work both ways—when Nelsinho Piquet cheated to help Fernando win the result was a loss of sponsors. 

Sponsors are responsible for the salaries that some consider ludicrous; Fernando Alonso’s rumoured salary is at £13 million because Ferrari can pay him that much. However his salary is significantly increased by sponsorship money from AMD, Shell, Sathander and a few others. 

A Sauber driver is quite disadvantaged by the fact that his team lacks the sponsors’ backing; if Sauber had the budget of  Ferrari, in the current state of affairs Kamui Kobayashi would still be making less than Fernando as the Sauber is into on equal footing with Ferrari. 

But before the driver is able to gain that superior sponsorship money they have to comit they entire lives to the sport. 

Once a person reaches their teens they seek out a job in the mall, or somewhere in the city centre.  The teen will save money for a night out on the town, a gift for a love interest, a fancy trip, or perhaps even set it aside in a savings account. 

A future Formula 1 driver does not have that option—at an early age a future F1 driver commits their entire free time to a dream that may never come true. 

Lewis Hamilton would go to school during the week and trade his free weekends for participation in Go-Kart races. Any money gained on a weekend would go towards the car, and the team. Lewis couldn’t really spend that money on a current love interest. 

In the end all that money and time invested guaranteed nothing, and while Lewis traded his weekends and free time, a person such as Fernando Alonso or Ayrton Senna traded everything, leaving their family and homes behind.

To be given the opportunity to drive in F1 is an incredible dream that a few are granted. Yet in accepting the opportunity the driver is not handed an easy job—a F1 driver’s job is not the same as a person driving from Toronto to Montreal. 

In committing to the dream of  F1, a person trades away their life for the hope of earning a spot in the ranks of F1, and as the past seasons have shown their future is not guaranteed. 

Yes a Formula 1 driver makes quite a bit of money, but it is justified because of the commitment, and it is justified because of the nature of the job, and the risks of the job haven’t even been mentioned.