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‘I Don’t Care’- AlphaTauri Boss Reacts to the Awkward Lewis Hamilton Moment During F1 Press Conference

Published 02/18/2021, 4:30 AM EST

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During the 2020 season, Lewis Hamilton had to go through an awkward phase at the Bahrain Grand Prix press conference. The interviewer asked the Mercedes driver to weigh in his thoughts on the concept of inducing a salary cap for drivers in F1.

Moreover, the question was a follow-up to the AlphaTauri Team Principal, Franz Tost’s opinion that “the drivers should be happy” that they have such a prestigious job in the sport.

And as the question concluded, the interviewer was expecting a counter-response from the British driver to Tost’s controversial point of view. But that wasn’t what he got in the end. The 7-time world champion had a brief pause and asked the interviewer, “Who said that?

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Despite receiving the answer, “Franz Tost“, Lewis remained clueless as the interviewer went a step ahead and clarified who Tost is. “Team Principal of AlphaTauri,” he said, and Lewis was still figuring out who the mystery man was before giving up.

Following the awkward moment, people were expecting to see Tost’s reaction to the fact that Lewis couldn’t recognize him. Well, there you go. The Austrian finally reacted to it during a recent interview.

Tost on remaining anonymous to Lewis Hamilton

Speaking to Gazzetta, the AlphaTauri Team Principal opened up about how Lewis Hamilton’s obliviousness does not bother him. But he also revealed that he had a good laugh when he came across the news.

I laughed, I don’t care if Lewis knows me or not,” he said. “I am interested that there is now a commission discussing the salary cap for pilots.

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Formula 1 is introducing the concept of a salary cap into the sport from the 2021 season. For the upcoming season, each team is allotted a salary cap of $145M. However, the budget doesn’t include the salaries of drivers and three top-positioned employees in the team.

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Hence, Tost voiced out that it would only be fair for the team if the drivers, too, receive the salary cap. Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, teams have been through a rough patch. And thus, showering millions of dollars in the name of salary for drivers would dent their goals in F1.

Moreover, Tost isn’t alone in supporting the salary cap. There is his compatriot, Toto Wolff, as well. The Mercedes boss, too, demanded fairness to the sport regarding limitations of the budget for the teams.

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Overall, with almost the entire F1 community consolidating over the matter, will F1 panel announce a salary cap for the drivers soon?

What Is the F1 Drivers’ Salary Cap?

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Written by:

Rohit Kumar

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Rohit Kumar is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been an ardent follower of the racing series since 2007, with his love for the sport coinciding with his love for Kimi Raikkonen. He is also an ardent follower of Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin Racing.
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