A former mechanic for Max Verstappen has lifted the lid on the less-than-glamorous side of working for a Formula One team. It comes after the McLaren garage received hefty criticism from fans following their antics at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s team members were criticised for an incident involving Lando Norris, after the Brit had been leading the race ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri. A lengthy pit stop saw him concede his position at the front of the race, with Piastri obeying team orders to hand the position back when Norris had returned to the track.
In the end, it was Verstappen who climbed to the top of the Monza podium, but a former Red Bull mechanic was quick to defend his counterparts in the aftermath of the race. Calum Nicholas, who worked with world champion Verstappen, said on social media: “This is why so few people in the paddock interact on here by the way. Bs (bulls***) opinions like this. It’s embarrassing.
“Average salary for an F1 Tech is closer to £60k by the way. The average working week is about 70 hours. Most fly economy, and nobody gets paid more for being on the pit crew.”
Nicholas went on to express his belief that the sport’s cost cap has influenced the relatively poultry salaries mechanics are able to earn. He added: “In fact, ‘The cost of the cost cap’ is a chapter of my book that I thought was one of the most important. But let’s be clear, even without it, pit crew would not earn £350k a year.”
The average salary of £60,000, as claimed by Nicholas, is in sharp contrast to the money Formula One drivers are able to earn. It’s suggested Verstappen is pocketing a whopping £40million per year for his exploits with Red Bull.
Piastri was quizzed on the team decision to give Norris his position back after the race, with the Aussie saying: “A trickier day for us. There were quite a few learning points from the first part of the race and also towards the end.
“It’s inherently quite a unique track, so there are some things that we can improve on for next year and other low-downforce tracks later in 2025. In terms of the call to swap, ultimately, it was fair. We have things to discuss, as we always do with these sorts of racing situations. It’s now time to refocus ahead of Baku.”