Engineers in Formula 1 are getting paid less than their counterparts in other racing series, and one former insider isn’t staying quiet about it.
Blake Hinsley, who used to work for Red Bull’s F1 team, dropped a bombshell about the massive pay gap between F1 and other racing championships. What he revealed is pretty shocking: some F1 race engineers make less than part-time engineers in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
“Want to know how f*cked the cost cap in Formula 1 is?” Hinsley wrote on X, before sharing his eye-opening experience with a recent job opportunity.
He’d just talked with a recruiter about an F1 position. The maximum salary they offered? Less than what he made working part-time in WEC.
That’s right – the pinnacle of motorsport, with its billion-dollar budgets and glamorous image, is paying its technical experts less than other racing series.
The demanding F1 schedule isn’t helping either. Engineers work crazy hours across 24 races a year, dealing with intense pressure and constant travel.
“I quit at 21 races because I wanted to have a life,” Hinsley explained. That was before F1 added even more races to the calendar.
He didn’t hold back when pointing fingers at who’s responsible. Team bosses could push for higher salary caps to deal with rising living costs, but Hinsley suggests they’re not exactly motivated to do so.
“The teams that are profitable, it’s likely the bosses and shareholders can pocket a chunk of whatever they don’t spend,” he said.
Now working in endurance racing, Hinsley says he’s much happier. He gets to do more varied work, face new challenges, and actually maintain a work-life balance.
But he’s worried about his former colleagues still in F1. “It infuriates me that the FOM, FIA and the teams themselves are fucking over the sport ‘because it’s F1’,” he added.
The situation raises serious questions about F1’s future. How long can the sport keep attracting top engineering talent while underpaying them? And with an ever-expanding calendar, will more engineers follow Hinsley’s lead and look elsewhere?
