FIA president Jean Todt says a budget-cap on its own would likely fail to lower the cost of Formula One, insisting policing and regulations are also necessary. As Formula 1’s owners consider the introduction of a budget-cap in the near future to help teams reduce their costs of going racing, Jean Todt favors the move, but says it must be supported by additional measures or run the risk of failing:
“We have been talking about cost control/cost cap for a while” – said the president of F1’s governing body – “I believe it is a good move, but for me it has to be a combination. We need to make regulations which will have some impact on the actual costs. To simply say we are going make a cost cap, I don’t think it will work. So far, any attempt has not worked. We have to be able to agree something that will be more sophisticated in order to achieve that.” – the former General Manager of Scuderia Ferrari explained, as reported by the British media.
Irish-American executive and the current chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Formula One Group Chase Carey recently said that there was broad-based support among the teams for the budget-cap initiative, as it would ultimately lead to a healthier and more beneficial business model. Skepticism among the teams about the concept’s implementation and practicality remains however: “I’m not a huge fan of budget caps because I question how policeable it is – because everyone’s corporate structure is different,” says Red Bull’s Christian Horner, who nevertheless agrees with Todt’s view that a budget cap won’t survive on its own – “It absolutely has to go hand in hand with dealing with the cost drivers upstream, because the costs are generated through the regulations. That is what determines the amount we spend. So you have to deal with the root cause, and then it becomes far less sensitive to be imposing a cap. If you put all your reliance on a cap, there is too much pressure on the dam.” – he concluded.
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