Formula 1 Teams Sandbagging Testing?

The Formula 1 2023 season starts in just 10 days at the Bahrain GP, but first they test their machines

February 23, 2023

In this week’s email:

Pre-Season Testing: Don’t be fooled by the results of testing
Stroll OUT: Bicycle accident keeps Stroll sidelined
Super MAX Earning: Verstappen highest paid driver in F1.. by a lot
Meme of the Week: “biking” accident

Pre-Season Testing

Teams are usually sandbagging testing

Bahrain pre-season testing is coming up from the 23rd - the 25th and you would think this is where we get to see who’s going to be the top car, but it’s not quite that simple.

Teams are going to be testing various components like different tire compounds and aerodynamic innovations. This makes comparing apples to apples difficult. We don’t know what teams are going to be running come race day and therefore shouldn’t put much stock into the results.

However, there is something that will give an indication of where teams will stack up, and that is - trap speed data. We’re going to find out who has the fastest speed on the straight, which is a pretty good indicator of how the car is performing. We’ll look more into the testing results in next week’s email.

Stroll OUT

Lance Stroll out of testing due to bicycle accident

So, it looks like Lance Stroll won't be taking part in the pre-season Formula 1 testing this week due to an injury he sustained while training on his bike in Spain. The team didn't provide many details on what exactly happened or what his injuries are, but they did say that he's expected to have a quick recovery and return to driving duties.

Going to be interesting to see if missing testing will set Stroll back in adjusting to the car’s new features. Hulkenberg was ready to step in like old times but then remembered he already had a seat…. lol

Super MAX Earning

Verstappen makes 5500% more than Yuki and Sargeant 🤯

Racing News 365 recently came out with an article breaking down all the drivers’ salaries and contract lengths. It should be noted that these numbers aren’t disclosed publically and were estimated by talking to various sources, but they’re good.

What really stands out is how much higher Verstappen is from the rest at $55 million. The salary is largely determined by the team and what they can afford, but even Checo is only bringing in $10 million from the same team. What’s wild is Max’s number is the base and doesn’t even factor in other bonuses he gets from his performance on the track.

Yuki and Sargeant on the other hand only bring in $1 million annually. It’s interesting to see the Alpha Tauri drivers’ salaries considering Red Bull also owns them. You would think if Red Bull can throw around all this money they would also be paying drivers of their second team a little more. Yuki ($1m) and De Vries ($2m) are among the bottom of all drivers on the grid.

It’ll be interesting to see as the sport grows will there be a salary cap implemented or a minimum amount on drivers. Because right now the salary cap doesn't include the drivers’ salaries.