Since the 2021 season, the Formula 1 teams have been subject to an expense cap, a measure that aims to improve competition by limiting the costs of the teams, especially the leaders, and thus equalize the grid.
In the current economic climate, with rising inflation and rising transport and fuel costs, there are fears that the 2022 limit could be a problem for some teams. This cap, located at 140 million dollars (about 131 million euros at the current exchange rate), was raised for a calendar of 23 races that, in the end, has remained at 22 after not having a substitute for the Russian GP.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says this limit makes him fear that most teams will have to miss several races to avoid exceeding it.
“Probably seven of the teams will have to miss the last four races to be in the top this year. It’s not just the big boys, it’s the middle ones that are really struggling with the problems [caused] by inflation. “.
Red Bull, which leads both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, has been at the center of a debate opened by Mattia Binotto , Ferrari’s chief executive officer, on the question of the budget cap, in light of the many changes made to the RB18 since the beginning of the season. In any case, Horner believes that the international federation must act and raise the spending cap.
“The FIA has a duty to act diligently. I know they take it seriously. Energy bills, living costs, expenses are going up exponentially, and F1 is not exempt from it. Freight has quadrupled and it’s not something we can control.”
This position seems to have the support of Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, but it is not to the liking of the smaller structures, such as Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Haas and Williams, who last month rejected the proposal to adjust the cap based on the inflation, according to figures established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The fear of the teams in the middle and lower part of the grid is that the richest will take advantage of the economic situation to try to recover part of the development spending that they can afford, exerting pressure to increase the cap.
Most of the smaller teams are already operating on a budget below the cap, so any increase would not directly benefit them, unlike those that are close to the cap.
“We set our budgets in advance, we anticipate inflation,” Alpine director Otmar Szafnauer explained. “Inflation is not a surprise. If we have done it, surely others can too. I am not in favor of raising the cap.”
“When transportation costs go up by 2.5 or 3.5 million, but your development budget is 20 million, can’t you make your development budget 17 million and stay under the cap? That’s possible.” “.
“What happens is that it limits their development. So it’s much easier, if you have the money, to go to the FIA, lobby to increase the cap and keep the same development budget.
An Aston Martin spokesman also made his position on the issue clear on the BBC ‘s microphones: “We support an increase in the budget cap in line with inflation, but we don’t see the need for more than that.”
