If the “Beckham Law” is abolished, Ferrari will suffer and the F1 team will suffer.

The Italian law, known as the “Beckham Rule” after legendary English footballer David Beckham, could be repealed as early as January, affecting Ferrari.

Ferrari benefited from “Beckham’s Law” and will never do so again.

Ferrari face a potential blow to their recruitment plans after the lifting of the ‘Beckham Law’ in Italy.

The Crecitta decree was withdrawn on 1 January this year, almost five years after it was first adopted by European parliamentarians. High earners from other countries were given significant tax breaks to encourage them to work in Italy.

This was similar to a rule introduced by Spanish lawmakers that allowed foreigners with high incomes to pay much lower taxes. Football icon David Beckham benefited from the law after joining Real Madrid in 2003 following a high-profile move from Manchester United.

The nickname that resulted from this law stuck when Italy introduced its own version. However, from the beginning of 2024, the Growth decree will no longer be in force.

And that could be a blow to Ferrari, which in recent years has been able to use the rule as an incentive to attract top hires from abroad. Most of Formula 1’s rivals are based in the UK. This means that many of the engineers the Italian team wants to borrow from other teams are British.

The promise of significant tax cuts was certainly a powerful weapon for Ferrari. Now that this is no longer the case, moving abroad may be more attractive to many engineers, especially those with separate families.

And the budgetary constraints of F1 make it very difficult for teams like Ferrari to offer high salaries. In fact, this creates a general paddock problem as talented employees leave the sport because they realize they can make more money taking their talents elsewhere.