Formula 1 teams have reportedly agreed to introduce a $30m cap on drivers’ salaries from 2023, potentially imposing such a limitation for the first time in Grand Prix racing’s history.

According to multiple reports, teams unanimously supported placing a limit on drivers’ salaries, an idea tabled during a virtual meeting of the F1 Commission on Monday.

F1 will implement a $145m budget cap for teams from next season that will progressively drop to $135m for 2023. But the cost cap does not include the expense earmarked for an outfit’s pair of drivers.

The novel salary restriction would therefore work together with a team’s budget cap.

Only a handful of drivers enjoy the benefits of an eight-figure salary in F1, with Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo considered the sport’s current top-three earners.

But the new rule, if quickly ratified and deemed legal under the various jurisdictions covering F1, could impact the ongoing contract negotiations between Hamilton and Mercedes.

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The Briton’s current deal with the German manufacturer – estimated to be worth a whopping $45m a year – expires at the end of this year.

All signs point to Hamilton extending his stay in F1 with Mercedes, but a $35m salary cap from 2023 might well incite the six-time world champion to sign a new and final restriction-free two-year deal with the Brackley squad for 2021 and 2022.

However, legally, it remains to be seen if a three-year deal for Hamilton extending into 2023 could surpass the $35m annual limit should such a deal be signed and sealed before the formal adoption of the salary cap rule.

But loopholes in the rule could also allow for money to flow to a driver’s bank account through bonuses or personal sponsorship deals.

Regardless of how many years Hamilton remains in F1, the will Briton will leave the sport at the end of his tenure a very rich man.

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