Quote:
Originally Posted by Kempi
There is no labor law issue: The teams are free to decide which salary they pay their employees. However, if the salaries move them over the budget (not salary!) cap, they lose their technical freedom.
|
Allright, so if a sponsor on the car pays a driver's salary instead of the team (a la Michael Schumacher with Marlboro at Ferrari supposedly), does that count toward the budget cap?
If not, seems like an easy way to skirt around this rule. The team pays the driver a nominal fee but his real money is coming from the sponsor. Although that's going to open up sponsors having more control over driver selection than they do now.
I understand the intention, I just don't see how they intend to actually do it. How is the FIA going to tell that a team did not budget 30 million pounds but instead 40 million pounds? How are they going to tell that wind tunnel time cost $40000 and not $25000? These teams are controlled by well-off millionaires and billionaires who've made hiding money an art form, all they are going to do is understate costs, i.e. hiding money, and how will that be combatted as the FIA does not have the right to inspect teams' balance sheets? Not to mention we have a ton of carmakers in the series, and they can most definitely hide money in other business arms.