Driver Strike! Driver Strike! - F1 Teams - Pay Your Drivers

[Nem14]

It is absurd that some of F1's drivers are not being paid money they are due.

Apparently Lotus is still in arrears in paying Kimi Raikkonen's contract obligated 2013 season wages.

Add Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi as also waiting on overdue payments.

"It is believed that, under the auspices of their union, the GPDA, the F1 drivers have signed a document vowing to strike if the growing trend of not being paid continues." http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/drivers-threaten-to-strike-over-unpaid-wages/

[Whyzars]

Bummer that teams are struggling. They probably could've done without the cost of all the new hardware but auto makers rule the sport these days.

A union of millionaire drivers does not have much muscle. We had a pilots strike at the end of the 80's and I think there are still pilots working at the local supermarket.

There are a hundred equally talented drivers who can fill their seats and will do it for peanuts.

Teams are likely paying their engineers and pit crew's though - they are not so easily replaced. :D

[Storm]

Don't expect any money from Force India

owned by Sahara and Kingfisher = both of which are in dire straits currently :laugh:
wasting money in F1, while Kingfisher airline employees were not being paid for over 10 months..
while Sahara is a joke, with the head in jail currently for contempt of court and with 200 billion INR of investor's money still to pay out..

[Ranger]

Don't expect any money from Force India

owned by Sahara and Kingfisher = both of which are in dire straits currently :laugh:
wasting money in F1, while Kingfisher airline employees were not being paid for over 10 months..
while Sahara is a joke, with the head in jail currently for contempt of court and with 200 billion INR of investor's money still to pay out..

Times are bad.

Even Vijay Mallya can only afford half a haircut... (http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597x478/8cRb/sutton/2013/dms1415ma461.jpg)

http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597x478/8cRb/sutton/2013/dms1415ma461.jpg

[steveaki13]

Makes you wonder despite two new teams potentially for 2015 whether 3 old teams might disappear.

[MrJan]

A union of millionaire drivers does not have much muscle. We had a pilots strike at the end of the 80's and I think there are still pilots working at the local supermarket.

There are a hundred equally talented drivers who can fill their seats and will do it for peanuts.

True story. While there isn't a driver of the quality of Kimi on every street corner there are a number of people decent enough that will do the job for free. Given the chance (and if I was a good enough driver) I'd do the job for the cost of room and board...and I wouldn't be fussy, in fact I'd be quite happy to camp out on the garage floor.

[anfield5]

I guess there are two issues here.

1. If a driver or any other employee is contracted to a team the team is obligated to meet their responsibilities and ensure wages are paid. It is the same in any business.

2. Drivers are paid way way way too much - this is the same in many sports and is the reason many professional teams are struggling to survive, it is up to the teams as a whole to set the wage structure in such a way to allow them to continue in the sport. i.e. if all top teams offer a similar wage to drivers all teams could survive, it becomes a problem when one or two mega-rich teams offer stupid amounts for a driver. It is not all about greed from the drivers point of view, it is about ego. By this I mean that if driver 1 considers himself to be superior to driver two, he will demand more money than driver two is being paid. Then along comes driver 3 who thinks he is better than driver one, so he wants more money than driver 1, but then driver two is better than driver 2 so he wants more, so driver one wants more and so on......

[Nem14]

2. Drivers are paid way way way too much - .
I find your logic seriously flawed.
We won't even consider the considerable risk of serious injury or death F1 drivers are exposed to at every testing, practice, and race session. While F! cars are designed with driver safety in mind that does not mean all risk has been eliminated.
A driver can still lose all earning potential in the blink of an eye.

Drivers have sponsor and team advertising and promotional obligations they have to meet and like an actor should expect to be paid for that work.

There is also the issue of the time an effort drivers must invest to stay in tip-top physical and mental condition.

Unlike most stick and ball sports, racing car drivers have to deal with physical demands for much longer periods of time between rests.

Then there are the technical knowledge aspects (car and driving) a top driver will have learned over the course of the drivers rise up through the ranks to the highest level of the sport.

Consider too that not all drivers get paid the same. Indeed most F1 drivers get paid a small fraction of what the top drivers are paid by the teams.

[Big Ben]

oh boy... now I won't be able to focus on my work because I'm concerned... global warming, famine in Africa... and now this... Kimi didn't get his millions yet! I can't take it anymore :((

[henners88]

Maybe its time for the teams to consider paying the drivers less? Some of the big names are paid silly amounts of money so its an ideal opportunity to halve wages IMO.

[Mia 01]

Whitout one of the best drivers the billion and billion effort from a team of for example Mercedes calibre is useless. A contract is binding and could be upheld in a court all over the world. Those team who not pay their drivers should not compete in F1.

[Big Ben]

way to go Mia... say it as it is! There's definitely nothing wrong with F1 money wise... Just throw out the teams that are not rich enough to be in this perfectly balanced F1

[journeyman racer]

In principle, it's pretty irresponsible management to not pay the full amount (or a fair amount in other circumstances), in any industry. Regardless what the amount is. It would've been an amount agreed upon. I doubt a gun was drawn at their head

[Whyzars]

Whitout one of the best drivers the billion and billion effort from a team of for example Mercedes calibre is useless. A contract is binding and could be upheld in a court all over the world. Those team who not pay their drivers should not compete in F1.

Not a good example. A couple of grannies on pension day could get the current Mercs onto the podium.

What you forget is that the days of needing one of the unique breed of driver who can drive above the cars ability are gone.

Any professional driver should be able to navigate through the current rulebook to extract the teams expectation of the cars fuel allowance. A heavy right foot is no longer required.

If a driver is performing above the ability of the car fuel allowance there will quickly be a call from the pits to back it off. These current cars are so dialed down it brings tears to the eyes.

The drivers want to go faster - they can't. The teams want to go faster - they can't. The fans want them to go faster - whoops, fans don't matter.

Ludicrous.

Contracts are contracts and lawyers drive them. Its just normal business. I would expect future driver salaries to be as much about the straightness of their teeth as their abilities behind the wheel.

[MrJan]

I find your logic seriously flawed.
We won't even consider the considerable risk of serious injury or death F1 drivers are exposed to at every testing, practice, and race session. While F! cars are designed with driver safety in mind that does not mean all risk has been eliminated.
A driver can still lose all earning potential in the blink of an eye.

It's a risk they choose to take, and which many pay for the privilege of taking...also they are insured for exactly that reason.


Drivers have sponsor and team advertising and promotional obligations they have to meet and like an actor should expect to be paid for that work.

Actors are also overpaid IMO. I also have obligations in my line of work but do not earn millions for it.


There is also the issue of the time an effort drivers must invest to stay in tip-top physical and mental condition.

As must many manual trades.


Unlike most stick and ball sports, racing car drivers have to deal with physical demands for much longer periods of time between rests.

So by that logic a GT driver should earn more than F1?


Then there are the technical knowledge aspects (car and driving) a top driver will have learned over the course of the drivers rise up through the ranks to the highest level of the sport.

Again this is the same as any trade.


Consider too that not all drivers get paid the same. Indeed most F1 drivers get paid a small fraction of what the top drivers are paid by the teams.

Just because x driver is earning say £6 million a year does that make it okay that Y driver is earning £1million?

[Doc Austin]

We don't know the details of anyone's contract, but if drivers aren't being paid what the teams agreed to pay them, that's just plain wrong.

[rjbetty]

I find your logic seriously flawed.
We won't even consider the considerable risk of serious injury or death F1 drivers are exposed to at every testing, practice, and race session. While F! cars are designed with driver safety in mind that does not mean all risk has been eliminated.
A driver can still lose all earning potential in the blink of an eye.

Drivers have sponsor and team advertising and promotional obligations they have to meet and like an actor should expect to be paid for that work.

There is also the issue of the time an effort drivers must invest to stay in tip-top physical and mental condition.

Unlike most stick and ball sports, racing car drivers have to deal with physical demands for much longer periods of time between rests.

Then there are the technical knowledge aspects (car and driving) a top driver will have learned over the course of the drivers rise up through the ranks to the highest level of the sport.

Consider too that not all drivers get paid the same. Indeed most F1 drivers get paid a small fraction of what the top drivers are paid by the teams.

I find your logic seriously flawed. I am currently working for a well known pizza store (you probably know which one it is) and do lots of driving at night (until 5am). In fact, I just got in an hour ago. I am working in an area where drivers are mugged quite often (again think of the night times). I had a bad night tonight where so many customers in awkward out of the way locations consistently wouldn't answer their doors or answer their phones, leaving the driver waiting for ages in a vulnerable position (I mean think about it). We have to drive in a way that's not slow either.

F1 is dangerous, especially with the driver's heads so exposed, but I'd say my daily job is more dangerous, realistically.

Sorry guys, but I'm a bit ticked as I had a bad night. I had to bring an incredible amount of orders back to the store tonight as I couldn't get hold of the customer. This is very time consuming (ok, sometimes it happens and can't be helped and that's fine, but it's the many who just seem to take the mick), leaving us standing out in the dark, often in back alleys etc for a long time, in the early hours of the morning, in an area known for muggings (several drivers have been mugged, and more than once). Also, my bosses are now suspicious of me, suspecting I'm up to something as this happened so many times tonight! What's more, I got given a fake £20 note by someone, which has come straight out my wages. My managers now seem to really think I'm commiting fraud/upto something - and they're not joking. Customers also tend to try to short change you, saying they don't have quite enough - even though if an order is £22.99 I have to give £22.99 t the store at the end of the night. If I'm short, it comes out of my wages - the shop gets their full amount one way or another, it's the driver who suffers.

People pleading poverty: I wouldn't mind being in a positon to order a pizza just once someday! (And I would tip the driver too, as they use their own car and phone, wear and tear is a killer!)


But enough of my self-pity, poor old Kimi Raikkonen!

(seriously I am grateful that I have a job, as that's better than I have been the last few years ;) )

[steveaki13]

Hi rjbetty. :wave:

Sorry to hear you knackered.