Scuderia Ferrari Sporting Director Laurent Mekies has revealed that due to the new regulations which will be introduced in 2022, teams will not be able to bring upgrades as frequently as could be seen during the last few years, as the budget cap tightening slightly in the second year of the newly introduced financial limitations.
While Formula 1 teams had $145 million dollars maximum to spend in last season, the budget cap now resuces to $140 million dollars for the next championship.
As a result, upgrades will not be available as much as compared to when the teams could spend what they liked, which was the case until the end of the 2020 campaign season.
“There is less money available for development during the season, because the overall budget has also shrunk,” Laurent Mekies said, in a recent interview for the German media.
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“We will see more upgrades than in the 2021 season, but also fewer than in 2018 or 2019.” – he added.
Scuderia Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were involved in several crashes and incidents during the past year, particularly in the free practice sessions, as they were looking to test the limits of the car, and Laurent Mekies now hopes that a smaller budget will be necessary for repairs and new parts.
“We encouraged our drivers to sound out the limits,” he explained, when asked about the incidents in 2021.
“Because the competition between the two of them helps us advance. This year [2021], there was relatively little development on the car. We were able to live better with accidents in terms of budget. That will be different in 2022 – we need all the money for vehicle development.” – the Scuderia Ferrari Sporting Director concluded.
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