The popularity of Formula 1 team bosses has increased in recent years, largely owing to the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive doc-series. Now, according to a report, some of their wages have been revealed.
During the off-season, there has been a great reshuffle, initiated by Mattia Binotto’s departure from Ferrari.
The Italian will be replaced at the team by Frederic Vasseur, who has joined from Alfa Romeo.
Andreas Seidl has now also left McLaren to become the CEO of the Sauber Group ahead of Audi’s F1 entry in 2026.
Seidl has been replaced at McLaren by Andrea Stella, while Jost Capito has left Williams – his replacement has yet to be named.
According to the French outlet sportune.fr. Vasseur, Seidl and Stella will bag somewhere between €6-8 million in their new roles.
Although these are sizeable sums, they are trumped massively by higher earners among their peer group.
None of the salaries of the Team Principals fall under the cost cap that is now being followed by all teams, as the three highest earners in a team that are drivers are exempt from the cap.
Christian Horner, who has run the day-to-day operations of the Red Bull team since it set up on the grid in 2005, is now reportedly pocketing between €8-12m per year.
It comes after a strong campaign for Red Bull that saw it clinch both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2013.
Earning even more than Horner, however, is Mercedes’ Toto Wolff who is reportedly seeing a “minimum” yearly income of €16m.
Wolff has been part of the Mercedes outfit through its success in the turbo-hybrid era, which saw it triumph in both championships across seven consecutive seasons.
Wolff also owns part of the Mercedes team, which is the only reason he has the job of team boss — he bought his way in.