Probably a good time to resurrect this thread seeing as the words Budget Cap are being bandied around again, and various TP's are concerned about the effects of "World Developments" and the effect on the Cap.
The Red Bull Rent a Gob has perhaps been the most outspoken, although to be fair others have spoken out on the matter.
Horner: F1 teams might have to skip races to meet budget cap
Red Bull boss Christian Horner claims that Formula 1 teams risk breaching the budget cap unless it is adjusted, even suggesting that some won’t be able to complete the season.
Well, I think we all know thats a load of bollocks in terms of reality. Common fact #1 is that the teams are contractually obliged to enter two cars at every race. OK there have been exceptions in years gone when the likes of Super Aguri, Arrows before them, Caterham missed races in 2014 all through financial collapse, but most, even HRT Marrusua Hispania always turned up and quit at the end of the season. What I am saying is that none of todays teams are going to become insolvent over this. They are either manufacturer, billionnaire owned or investment company owned, and thus are of value as an ongoing concern. They are not struggling as such. Even Haas, likely the most financially fragile, were able to dust themselves down and continue when they dismissed the Mazepin Millions,
In addition the teams are all contractually bound to sponsors to turn up to every race of the year.
So sorry Mr Horner I dont buy that any team will miss races for fear of breaking the budget cap. I think Horner's problem is more like he has spent way over what he planned to this year already to put his car at the front of the field, major updates at every race until Spain. Other teams have been way more circumspect and respectful of the cap. Hell, even Ferrari held back on updates because of the restraints of the cap.
What Horner is saying that some TPs agree with, is that the cap has to be adjusted for inflation. Others like Steiner of Haas, Williams, Snafnauer (Alpine) have said Bullshit, pull back on what you spend on development to meet the other areas such as freight that have blown out, for whatever reason.
Its not a new argument, it has been going on all season. Ross Brawn has previously indicated that the matter would be addressed. However, several teams have continued to dig their heels in and oppose any change to the current cap ($140m for the year, plus an extra $1.2m for a 22nd race.)
It is already starting a bit of a bitch fight as teams look at the level of updates others are bringing and wonder if all teams are playing by the same rule book.
Horners Rant
“I think we need the FIA to address the inflationary issue,” said Horner.
“Probably about seven of the teams probably need to miss the last four races to come within the cap this year, from the consensus that there has been up and down the paddock.
“It’s not just about the big teams now, it's teams in the middle of the field that are really struggling with the inflationary rate that we're seeing that could even get worse in the second half of the year.
“I think the FIA have a duty of care in a situation like this. I know they're taking it very seriously because as I say, you'd almost be at the point where I think for certain teams, from numbers that were presented earlier in the [Spanish GP] week, that they would have to miss a few grands prix to even get anywhere near the numbers.”
Teams don’t want to risk edging over the cap and facing penalties.
“Nobody wants to be in that position, which is why I think the second six months of the year, the FIA need to address the issue,” he said.
“Things like energy bills, just cost of living, we see that the costs are growing exponentially and Formula 1's not exempt from that.
“We see it in freight, that’s quadrupled. And that's not something we can control.”
On the other side Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer confirmed that his team will continue to oppose any boost to the cap.
He puts his points across very well.
"We're not in favour of that,” (raising the cap) he said.
“We've set our budgets out early, we kind of anticipated a little bit of the inflation, inflation just didn't creep up on us.
“If you look back in December, the RPI [retail price index] was already at 7%. And most teams do their budgets between November and December for the following year.
“For us, it wasn't a surprise. So therefore, we planned for it, we're still under the cap, even though we didn't plan for as high a freight cost as we are now experiencing.
“But we're still under, and if we can do it, for sure others can do it too. So I'm not for just increasing the cap.”
In response to Horner's claim that teams would miss races, Szafnauer insisted that they will simply have to scale back their development budgets to stay within the limit.
“I know what our budget is, and I know budgets that I've experienced in the past, there's a significant amount of money in the development budget for a year,” he said.
“Especially in a year where the regulations are all new, you put in a lot of money for development, because ultimately this year is a development race.
“So when freight costs go up by $2.5-3.5m, but your development budget is $20m, can you not make your development budget $17m and still be under the cap?
“You can. But what that then does is it limits your development, and you're in a development race.
“So it's a lot easier if you have the money to go to the FIA and lobby to raise the cap and keep your development budget the same. So those are the questions you should be asking [teams pushing for an increase.”