Toto Wolff, Mercedes team boss, not only spoke about inflation, but also mentioned that the adjustment of the cost limits in the category will make it difficult for teams to make a change of concept if they have made a mistake with it. Being able to change direction and produce a substantially modified car will be more difficult during the 2022 season.
This year, the budget limit has been reduced from 128 million euros to just under 124 million, something that forces the big teams to cut back on their templates or to allocate part of their staff to projects outside of Formula 1.
At the same time, inflation in the UK, where the Mercedes team is based, is at its highest level in 30 years, at 5.5%, according to the country’s consumer price index.
“It has been especially difficult to structure the company and the organization correctly to meet the budget cap of $140 million,” Wolff told Motorsport.com in an interview.
“Also, in an environment with such high inflation, not only are we reducing our budget by $5 million, but we are also in a situation where we are not able to increase costs and payroll, which hurts me.” “.
“On the other hand, you have to decide very carefully where you invest your money in R&D. In the past it was easier, as you could follow several paths in search of performance.”
“Nowadays you have to decide which option has the most potential and go for it. It’s a completely different way of working for the big teams.”
If a complete change of concept were necessary, Toto Wolff made it clear that teams will have a hard time dealing with such a situation.
“There is a part where you can change the technical concepts, but sometimes you embark in one direction and that’s it,” said the Mercedes director.
“And then there is the added pressure of the budget cap, which makes it very difficult to change the basics and fundamentals of the car.
“Everything is planned, every improvement and the costs that come with it is planned, and so we are much more constrained in our ability to implement the creative process on the car with this budget cap.”
