Budget Cap Forces F1 to Lose Key Talent

Adrian Newey highlights how the F1 budget cap reduces salaries, drives engineers to other industries, and threatens future recruitment.

Could F1 be heading toward a salary crisis? Following the explosive remarks of a former engineer regarding low wages in Formula 1 (read here), Adrian Newey, Aston Martin F1’s new technical director, sounds the alarm.

According to him, this unexpected consequence of the budget cap in Formula 1 could lower the quality of engineering, as engineers would seek better-paying opportunities elsewhere. With declining salaries, teams would also struggle to attract graduates for replacements.

“I fully agree with the cost cap. There must be a way to control team expenses or, at least, limit the advantages of spending more in Formula 1 so that it’s not simply an arms race where the team with the biggest budget wins,” Newey told Auto Motor und Sport.

“However, the budget cap comes with many hidden penalties, one of them being that Formula 1 is no longer the best-paying industry. For example, at Red Bull, in the beginning, if we lost employees, it was almost always to another F1 team.”

“Today, we lose employees to tech companies because they’re better paid. We lose people to WEC teams because they’re better paid.”

“We’re struggling to recruit graduates because Formula 1 can no longer afford to be the best-paying industry, leading to many, let’s say, unexpected penalties.”

“But what this means is that you now have an engineering budget, and the fear of disappearing by overspending has theoretically vanished, allowing you to loosen the regulations instead of making them increasingly restrictive. But unfortunately, that’s not what’s happening.”

Newey will face a new set of regulations in 2026, having been in Formula 1 since the late ’80s. Asked about his favorite regulation, he quickly points out a key factor: “The ones with the most freedom, that’s easy!”

“When I started working in Formula 1, I had a copy of the 1973 technical regulations on my desk, which were three or four pages long. Now, we have this bible even before all the technical directives take effect! It’s really over-prescribed now, and I think that’s a shame.”