The proposal for F1’s budget control has been set at $140 million for 2022, with an extra $1.2 million if the 21 races are exceeded and an extra allowance for expenses related to sprint races.
After long discussions, that figure was exceptionally increased by 3.1% to help teams stay below the limit in the current inflation scenario and the provision for 2023 remains at the forecast 3%.
While this limit has been hailed as one of the reasons why the performance gap between F1 teams is narrowing and has actually prevented the top teams from continually rolling out their updates, questions remain about how which the FIA will control the spending of the teams.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto stressed that while he trusts the FIA, the rules to ensure control of spending remain uncharted territory in F1.
“It has to be controlled and monitored,” Binotto told Motorsport.com. “I fully trust the FIA, but the financial rules are completely new.
“If you look at the technical regulations or the sporting regulations, it’s been in place for many years. Yes, you do readjustments, you change the chassis a bit, but [the budget limit] is an unknown field, both for the FIA and for the teams.
“We know exactly where we can do things, what needs to be watched. That’s why the financial rules are completely new for everyone. It will take some time for the FIA and for the teams to get to know it, interpret it and clarify it to watch and monitor her.”
Therefore, Binotto thinks it will be key for the FIA to expand the small working group dedicated to monitoring the budget cap and to be like its technical department. Until then, he thinks there will remain questions about how the limits can be enforced.
“IF you see how big the FIA team is, the ones who watch the financial situation…there are three, four or five people, compared to the dozens they have in the technical area. I hope that in a few years there can be dozens of people financially monitoring what is happening with the budgets,” he argued.
“It’s a matter of time. But in the meantime, there is a huge question mark, so we know we have to deal with it. I think it’s part of the FIA’s tasks and the duty of the teams to try to speed up this issue as much as possible to monitor it. correctly, but we must be aware that right now, what is it like? and that is a big question”.
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