Just after completing the first quarter of the 2022 season, the teams do not stop in their intention to warn the FIA about an untenable situation: staying below the budget limit is an arduous task that none expect to fulfill.
the longed for budget cap it finally became effective in Formula 1 last year: while initially it was thought of a cap of 175 million dollars, in the end it was reduced to 145 million, a not insignificant figure for many members of the middle zone of the grid.
Although elements such as the engine bill, marketing or the salary of the pilots were left out of this equation, in 2022 it has been lowered to the $142.4 million5 less than in 2021 to which to add an extra from the 22nd appointment of the calendar for two Grand Prix that make the bill more expensive.
devastating inflation
Finding themselves prisoners of a disproportionate increase in the usual costs, Christian Horner even suggested during the Spanish GP that teams like Red Bull would miss races at the end of the season to stay within the limit of this budget cap.
However, the British leader wanted nuance your words. “What he was trying to point out is that it would be the equivalent of missing several races for the costs to come close to the budget limit,” Horner revealed.
“All the top teams are going to break that $140 million budget cap this year. There are obviously a couple of teams against it, and the vote for budget cap changes during the season requires a percentage of votes that we currently do not reach», he stated presciently.
“You have to look at the big picture: Is it a case of force majeure? I would say that an act of war that has fueled inflation is a force majeure event,” he added.
“All the top teams are going to exceed that budget limit of 140 million dollars this year”
Will the 2022 World Cup end decided by millionaire sanctions? “What we really ask for is clarity, because none of us wants to see running to the appellate courts of Paris at the end of the season saying ‘he spent a million more than us’ or something like that, so we have to come up with a sensible percentage.”
“As for small teams, the FIA has mechanisms. For example, components that are transferred, gearboxes, suspensions, listed parts that carry a substantial tax… a tax on the maximum cost, not a real tax on the money. Perhaps this is something that the FIA can study to revalue them. Even the teams that are in 7th position see that they are going to exceed the budget limit for some of those effective taxes, “concluded Horner.
There is no escape
In the same way, Mattia Binotto endorsed the opinion of his counterpart at Red Bull. “I think there will simply be no way we can fall short. At some point we will pass, “said the head of Ferrari on the circuits.
“In the regulations there a 5% threshold; if you don’t exceed that percentage over the budget cap, it will be considered a minor infraction. What is a minor infraction in case of force majeure? The stewards and the FIA will decide, but we have no idea what will happen in terms of penalties,” he continued.
“What is a minor infraction in case of force majeure? […] We have no idea what will happen in terms of sanctions.”
If there are penalties for going over the budget in one way or another, teams still don’t know exactly what they’ll be facing, though the concern is more than evident.
«I don’t think there is a way for us to comply with the regulations. «I don’t think that laying off people is a good or correct option, it will already be summer by the time we organize it, the benefit is not enough to deal with the excess prices and costs that we have. What will be the consequences? ”, Binotto questioned.
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“For me the most important thing is that many teams will break it, and it will be just bad for the financial regulations, because, if we get to the point of breaking it, we will be debating its value. We will start discussing whether the financial regulation is worthif it is working, and the discussion will return, “he predicted negatively.
“We have to try to avoid that, because it is important to have a cap in some way. The only way is to give a little more encouragement, take a little more time and try to do a better job and suitable for next year, “concluded the Swiss.
Struggling Reigning Champion
After a start to the year in which they went from surprising everyone with a single-seater ‘without pontoons’ to seeing themselves surprised by a concept that did not finish working as they expected, at Mercedes they agree with their greatest rivals.
«At the beginning we had a plan so as not to breach the budget limit and work like this, like everyone else. As the costssuch as transport or energy, multiplied by inflationwe have started looking for ways to adjust to it so as not to go overboard, but we have reached a point where the challenge becomes insurmountable, “explained Andrew Shovlin.
The director of track engineers assured that “we can do things, but their impact is not immediate or omnipotent. I know that Toto thinks very similarly to Christian and Mattia in this, everyone is in a position where, even with the best will, it is almost impossible to comply.
“People have talked about the development budget, but this is also intended to provide the pieces with which it competes. It is not an amount of money that is only spent on parts for the wind tunnel or parts to go faster, “shovlin stressed.
“We are competing with parts that are more worn, we carry much fewer spare parts than before”
“We are competing with parts that are more worn, we carry much less spare parts than before. Every weekend we are faced with situations where a serious accident may mean that we cannot present the car or that we have to improvise one, ”he mused aloud.
“If we weren’t constantly replacing parts with faster ones, we would be spending a considerable amount of money on the same parts. we are not the only onesis the majority: it is a difficult challenge, there are one or two for whom things have gone well because they expected to be below, but we are all working together to find a solution, “he closed.
Font: GPfans.com