The introduction of salary caps in F1 has been a talking point for some time now. Particularly so when Lewis Hamilton, who reportedly ranks the highest in terms of wages, is also involved in the conversation.

Franz Tost, the AlphaTauri team principal, has in the past shared his views on the salary cap topic. He believes that there must be something like a $10 million limit, with the drivers needing to be “happy” at being able to drive the F1 cars. (translated via Google Translate)

When the same opinion got relayed to Hamilton in the pre-race press conference, Hamilton had a very interesting response. Funnily enough, he had briefly forgotten who Mr. Tost was!

Lewis Hamilton asked the press conference moderator who Franz Tost was

When asked, Hamilton responded, “Who said that?” Ater the moderator said, “Franz Tost,” Hamilton again asked, “Who’s that?”

The former then told him that Mr. Tost was the team principal of the AlphaTauri F1 team.

One can only wonder what Tost’s reaction would be to this incident.

On a much more serious note, Tost in his earlier interview had made some good points with regards to the salary cap.

With increasing costs in F1 as a whole, reducing the wage bill becomes an important component for the team. It would be one step towards ensuring the sustainability of Formula 1 as a business, especially in such difficult and unprecedented times.

Hamilton had a slightly different opinion on the salary cap

The Briton continued and said, “I think currently the salary cap is supposed to be implemented, probably, when I am not even here. I do think that the drivers here are naturally the stars of the sport. They’re the ones that are seen, they’re the ones that bring their brands.”

“I’m not personally opposed to it, it’s not my decision at the end of the day. But I do think about the next up and coming young stars that are coming through. And I don’t particularly see why they should be handicapped.

It is a multibillion-dollar sport and they should be rewarded for what they do bring to it.” concluded Hamilton.

All F1 teams have agreed to a provisional salary cap of a combined $30 million across both drivers in order to cut costs. It will, however, interest to see when and how this will come into implementation in the forthcoming future.