Axel Kruse
Williams Salary
Chief Operations Director
What Axel Kruse Earns Running Operations at Williams
Williams pays Axel Kruse a base salary of £300k-1m ($398k-1.3m) on F1 Salaries’ 2026 band for operations executives. His brief covers production, the factory and delivery at Grove. That’s a much bigger job than race-weekend logistics.
With a bonus of £30k-300k ($40k-398k), his total would come to £330k-1.3m ($437k-1.7m). He arrived after about 15 years as Sauber’s chief operating officer, and Audi’s COO Christian Foyer is in the same band. Williams hasn’t disclosed anything about his contract, including its length.
Anonymous motorsport pay survey behind the operations executive band and the 10% to 30% bonus range used for Kruse.
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Insider · Issue 23
01 · The Last Race
Singapore by Salary
Pos
Driver
Pts
Salary
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
25
$70m
2
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
18
$34m
3
Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
15
$3.4m
4
Lando Norris
McLaren
12
$30m
5
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
10
$13m
6
Insider+
7
Insider+
Our Take · Insider+
What Each Point Now Costs Red Bull
Kruse's Operations Brief at the Williams Factory
Kruse is in charge of how Williams makes and delivers its cars. Production, factory operations and the processes that get finished parts to the track all sit with him. He replaced Fred Brousseau in 2025 and reports to James Vowles.
Sporting matters stay with Sven Smeets, so the two jobs fit together rather than overlap. Kruse’s value is experience. He ran Sauber’s operations for about 15 years as its chief operating officer, and he knows Williams from the other side too, because he worked for BMW during its engine partnership with the team.
Williams' announcement of Kruse joining its leadership team, confirming his German nationality, his Sauber background and his start date.
Covers his appointment and Harman's promotion, although its headline calls Kruse Sauber's CEO rather than its COO.
Kruse and His Counterparts at Other Teams
Kruse shares the £300k-1m ($398k-1.3m) band used for senior F1 operations staff with Cadillac’s chief operating officer Rob White and Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord sits on it too, so the range covers very different titles.
Axel Kruse's Route Back to Williams
Kruse worked as a BMW engineer during its Williams engine partnership and spent about 15 years running Sauber’s operations before joining Williams in 2025.
Kruse on the Williams Pay Ladder
Kruse sits in the middle of the Williams staff pay scale. His £300k-1m ($398k-1.3m) band is below the £500k-2m ($663k-2.7m) that covers technical chiefs Pat Fry and Matt Harman, and higher than sporting director Sven Smeets on £200k-450k ($265k-596k).
Axel Kruse FAQs
Axel Kruse started at Williams on September 1, 2025. The team had announced him on July 29, and the move ended roughly 15 years as chief operating officer at Sauber. He arrived with the title Chief Operations Director and took over from Fred Brousseau after a handover period.
Fred Brousseau is the man Axel Kruse replaced. Brousseau ran operations at Williams before him, and the two overlapped for a handover when Kruse arrived in September 2025. Kruse’s brief as Chief Operations Director covers production, factory operations and the processes that deliver the cars to each race.
For his Williams operations role, Axel Kruse has a base salary of £300k-1m ($398k-1.3m) on F1 Salaries’ figures. A bonus of £30k-300k ($40k-398k) would lift that to £330k-1.3m ($437k-1.7m). Williams hasn’t published his pay or the length of his contract.
No, Axel Kruse was Sauber’s chief operating officer, not its chief executive. Williams describes him as Sauber’s COO for about 15 years, although at least one headline on his move called him the former Sauber CEO. His job in Hinwil was running operations, the same area he now leads at Williams.
The Axel Kruse at Williams isn’t the footballer of the same name. The Williams executive is an engineer and manager whose career runs through BMW’s F1 program and Sauber, so anything about football clubs, transfers or goals belongs to someone else.
No credible figure exists for Axel Kruse’s net worth. Nobody has published his assets or his pay, and numbers that appear online without sources aren’t worth repeating. What he earns is clearer. His Williams income is £330k-1.3m ($437k-1.7m) a year on F1 Salaries’ band.