Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 Charles Leclerc of Monaco drives a (16) Ferrari F1-75 during the F1 Monaco GP on May 29, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
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Formula 1’s top teams Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes believe they are at risk of penalties for exceeding the sport’s budget cap this season, with Christian Horner calling on the FIA to move quickly to avoid the “World Championship of Accountability”.
All F1 teams have a $140m (£119m) cost cap for 2022 – with the limit set aside to improve competition – but the massive rise in inflation and shipping costs has put team budgets under unexpected pressure.
This led to the emergence of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, the largest and most competitive sports team currently, and they all emphasized an increase in the budget ceiling due to “force majeure” conditions.
However, there is opposition on the network – such as Alfa Romeo and Alpine, who see no reason to raise the cap.
“While we all agreed on those cuts, no one could have predicted what’s going on in the world and how that leads to inflation in every household globally,” Red Bull boss Horner told Sky Sports Formula 1:
“We see it in Formula 1, we see it with the logistics, we see it with energy costs. And that for me is something the FIA needs to take into account.
“They have the ability through force majeure to apply an inflationary effect because we don’t have enough levers to reach the limit. I think that’s probably the same for seven of the teams in Formula 1.
“We still have six months left this year, inflation still looks like it’s going up rather than down, and hopefully the FIA will act soon.”
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Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto, in agreement with the opposing team boss, said: “I think there would be no way for us to stay down. So, I’m sure we will move on at some point.
“In the regulations, there is a limit, which is 5%. If you don’t go above 5% at the top of the budget cap, it is considered a minor violation. And what is a minor violation in the event of what will the hosts and the FIA decide about that, in terms of penalties?
“No idea – but I don’t think there is any way for us – and for many teams – to just stay inside, and even let go of people, I don’t think that’s a good and right option.”
Horner also stressed that Red Bull “will end up with more people in our finance department than we have in the drawing office” and added: “What we don’t want to see is Formula 1 becoming a global accounting championship, rather than technical or athletic.”
Mercedes is also siding with its grid rivals.
“The cost cap has been introduced for specific purposes, to allow small teams to spend the same amount as big teams,” Toto Wolff explained. “There should be no bargaining every year to raise the cost ceiling.
“But I think we’re in an exceptional situation where we have real inflation north of 7% right now. Our energy prices at Brackley have tripled, our shipping costs tripled.
“I think that’s something to keep in mind because we want to avoid any circumstance, restructuring the big teams again in a way that could really be detrimental to us as a team and as an industry.
“This is a case of force majeure, the presence of a war raging in Ukraine and its consequences for energy prices is not something that anyone can expect.
“There has to be some sort of compromise for the teams who are against the inflationary adjustment and the teams for it.”
“This is not a case of force majeure.” | Why are other teams different
The two teams that oppose the modification are Alpine and Alfa Romeo.
“Most teams put their budgets in November, December, the next year’s timeframe, and we’re no different,” stressed Ottmar Szafnauer at the Alps. “At that time, inflation was already at 7%+. The RPI in England was 7.1%, 7.2%.
“We took that into account when we set our budgets and put in all the development work that we were going to do. And we’re still within it.
“Where there is the will, there is a way and we set a budget cap and we must stick to it.”
Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s Fred Vasseur said teams could stop developing their cars sooner, reducing costs.
“We are in this situation and sooner or later we will have to stop developing the car because we will be within our budget. I think everyone can do the same.
“It is not a case of force majeure at all, because inflation is not a case of force majeure.”
But Horner said the desire to increase the budget was “not about new parts”.
“We didn’t introduce a lot of ingredients, especially compared to the regular season,” he continued. “Of course what we try to do is be very selective in the parts we produce.
“It’s a very different tactic, in a very different way.
“I think what we need is clarity and clarity quickly. Because, quite simply, it’s not right to have a ransom being paid by two possibly ineffective teams – because that was never the design of a budget cap.”
“The budget cap was in place to curb the spending frenzy for the big teams.”