Formula 1 has always been a fertile ground for innovation, the pinnacle of development and engineering. However, in recent years, there has been a significant block to the creativity of engineers: the budget cap. Each team is allocated a maximum of 140 million dollars every year to design their car; this amount must also cover costs such as accidents, developments, fines, and employee salaries. What remains out of this is minimal, such as the salaries of managers, sick days, and maternity leave.
However, this system has several loopholes, starting with the fact that it’s probably very easy to employ bureaucratic and financial tricks to offload some extra expenses. Additionally, as seen with Red Bull in 2022, the accounts are only reviewed in the following year, so someone could overspend, win, and then be punished later (and if the fine is like the one Milton Keynes’ team received…).
Mohammed Ben Sulayem Wants to Remove the Budget Cap
It’s no surprise that there’s widespread dissatisfaction with this spending limit, so Mohammed Ben Sulayem is reportedly proposing its removal, perhaps hoping to regain some popularity ahead of the upcoming elections. “The only purpose of the budget cap is to bring headaches to the FIA. I see no other reason,” the president is said to have told the press, as reported by Racingnews365.
If there’s any truth to this, the path to removing it would be long, and during a period of regulatory changes, it would almost be impossible to consider; furthermore, smaller teams wouldn’t be in favor of allowing unlimited spending, given their limited budgets. On the other hand, we’ve seen dominant performances even in the era of restricted budgets, and the grid hasn’t closed, as was the original goal.
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