Salary Cap for F1 Drivers

[realjv]

I seem to remember Coulthard saying he always had 2 contracts when he was with McLaren, 1 for driving the car and 1 for image rights/PR/marketing and all the other parts. Given that marketing expenses are excluded from the budget cap it looks like McLaren where way ahead of the curve here.

[Kraken]

Coulthard treated the driving as his hobby and the pr/marketing as his actual job. Too many drivers are dismissive of the marketing side of things and the ultimate upshot is that the income of the team drops.

I watched an Aussie Supercars documentary the other day about Erebus and their "star" driver was constantly moaning on about the pr work. If I ran that team he would have been out the door pronto after seeing that.

[Sandpit Steve]

Kraken said:

Coulthard treated the driving as his hobby and the pr/marketing as his actual job. Too many drivers are dismissive of the marketing side of things and the ultimate upshot is that the income of the team drops.

I watched an Aussie Supercars documentary the other day about Erebus and their "star" driver was constantly moaning on about the pr work. If I ran that team he would have been out the door pronto after seeing that.

That's very true. Most F1 drivers are happy to be doing what they love, which is driving the car and making it go faster.

The bit they consider 'work' is all the stuff with sponsors and media, that they're only doing because they've been told to because it pays bills. You think they genuinely enjoy all the stunts they do with Sky every Wednesday and Thursday at the track, or going to some sponsor's annual awards dinner on the other side of the world just because it's in the contract? Do they want to spend Saturday evening between qualy and the race in the Paddock Club, because their sponsor held a competition for people to meet an F1 driver?

Most drivers this season have spoken positively about the lack of 'distractions' at the race events. What they mean is that there's not dozens of media and sponsors taking hours out of their days, and they have more time to spend with engineers, mechanics and physios.

[Welshbeef]

Muzzer79 said:

It's estimated Hamilton is worth around £250m.

You really think he'll retire because he'll be earning £20m and not £40m?

Money is one of the least important factors in his remaining contract(s)

I’m sure Lewis will want to compete/win in the following

Le Mans24hr.
Daytona 500
Indy 500
N24
Spa 24hr
Formulae E

[number2]

Welshbeef said:

I’m sure Lewis will want to compete/win in the following

Le Mans24hr.
Daytona 500
Indy 500
N24
Spa 24hr
Formulae E

Hasn't he indicated the contrary with regard to the Indy at least? I haven't heard anything confirming a desire to compete in the others, rather that he would pursue alternative passions.

Not that I give a t*ss mind you. He can do what he likes .

[ch37]

Sandpit Steve said:

That's very true. Most F1 drivers are happy to be doing what they love, which is driving the car and making it go faster.

The bit they consider 'work' is all the stuff with sponsors and media, that they're only doing because they've been told to because it pays bills. You think they genuinely enjoy all the stunts they do with Sky every Wednesday and Thursday at the track, or going to some sponsor's annual awards dinner on the other side of the world just because it's in the contract? Do they want to spend Saturday evening between qualy and the race in the Paddock Club, because their sponsor held a competition for people to meet an F1 driver?

Most drivers this season have spoken positively about the lack of 'distractions' at the race events. What they mean is that there's not dozens of media and sponsors taking hours out of their days, and they have more time to spend with engineers, mechanics and physios.

Lewis seems to have done a pretty solid job of getting much of that work removed from his contract over the past few years. A visit to the Petronas HQ seems to be one of the very few high profile sponsor visits he will do each year. He supports the Puma deal with the team quite a bit but that appears to come from a place of genuine enjoyment as much as anything (unboxing trainers on Instagram etc).

In fact quite a few of his endorsements seem pretty savvy in terms of what of required of him. Sony/Gran Turismo, he plays it regularly anyway, BOSE with his music connection, Tommy Hilfiger with his fashion interests.

[TwentyFive]

Welshbeef said:

Muzzer79 said:

It's estimated Hamilton is worth around £250m.

You really think he'll retire because he'll be earning £20m and not £40m?

Money is one of the least important factors in his remaining contract(s)

I’m sure Lewis will want to compete/win in the following

Le Mans24hr.
Daytona 500
Indy 500
N24
Spa 24hr
Formulae E

I can't see him looking elsewhere. I get the impression is is not remotely interesting in racing anything else when he leaves F1 and he has said before that other series generally hold no interest to him with the exception of NASCAR. I would imagine he will be off to top up his bank balance through his fashion and music aspirations. The one that may possibly interest him would be if Mercedes ever returned to Le Mans in the future but I think once he retires from F1, he won't pop up racing elsewhere full time like Alonso or Button did.

[Sandpit Steve]

ch37 said:

Sandpit Steve said:

That's very true. Most F1 drivers are happy to be doing what they love, which is driving the car and making it go faster.

The bit they consider 'work' is all the stuff with sponsors and media, that they're only doing because they've been told to because it pays bills. You think they genuinely enjoy all the stunts they do with Sky every Wednesday and Thursday at the track, or going to some sponsor's annual awards dinner on the other side of the world just because it's in the contract? Do they want to spend Saturday evening between qualy and the race in the Paddock Club, because their sponsor held a competition for people to meet an F1 driver?

Most drivers this season have spoken positively about the lack of 'distractions' at the race events. What they mean is that there's not dozens of media and sponsors taking hours out of their days, and they have more time to spend with engineers, mechanics and physios.

Lewis seems to have done a pretty solid job of getting much of that work removed from his contract over the past few years. A visit to the Petronas HQ seems to be one of the very few high profile sponsor visits he will do each year. He supports the Puma deal with the team quite a bit but that appears to come from a place of genuine enjoyment as much as anything (unboxing trainers on Instagram etc).

In fact quite a few of his endorsements seem pretty savvy in terms of what of required of him. Sony/Gran Turismo, he plays it regularly anyway, BOSE with his music connection, Tommy Hilfiger with his fashion interests.

This is the sort of thing that actually holds up contract negotiations with the likes of Lewis.

Everyone wants a part of him, but he's out to persue his own interests and spend as little time as possible on the more frivolous stuff.

But the team will have their own contracts with the sponsors and with Valtteri, who can't do all the engagements on his own. Lewis will want the team sponsors to settle for social media posts rather than in-person appearances, that sort of thing.

The Petronas video ad that Sky are running now is a fantastic example of how to leverage sports sponsorship, with long-form advertisements showing to an interested and educated audience.

[faa77]

At what point will sponsors realise a celebrity doesn't make me want to buy something?

Oh well I guess it works on the sheep?