Formula 1 engineer: Budget cap should rise with inflation
Last season, Formula 1 teams Aston Martin and Red Bull were punished for issues relating to the newly introduced budget cap.
While Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin received a slap on the wrist and a fine for a technical error relating to admin, Red Bull went above the $145m cap by £1.8m, were fined $7m and had allotted time in the wind tunnel reduced.
But Aston Martin’s engineering director Luca Furbatto insisted that his team – who have three Sunday race podiums to their name this season – cannot be put into the same category as the Raging Bulls when it comes to perceptions of them due to their punishment.
“I think is one thing is it should be a distinction between ourselves and Red Bull,” he told City PM
“So we we had a technical infringement which means putting a number in one of the 75,000 boxes, which was slightly wrong.
“It was kind of a very immature regulation in a way, something that wasn’t super clear.
“We went through the FIA [governing body], every team had a very strong learning curve. I think now we know what we’re dealing with and I’m very confident that we are going to be fine and probably with a small margin [spare] to the budget cap itself.
“I can’t speak really for other teams, but for us has been a very steep learning curve.”
The cap was introduced to ensure that there was some parallel between each team on the grid – though the long term advantages gained by some clubs investing for years versus the newer players still provides a discrepancy.
But with inflation, shipping costs and other issues surrounding Formula 1 does the cap need to change already, just years after its introduction?
“The number [cap] is well thought and actually has been supported by all teams,” Furbatto added.
“I think everyone understands why the there is a budget cut in place and it’s very important for the sustainability of the sport going forward.
Providing the number is adjusted in terms of inflation, reflects the cost of leaving and so on in terms of salary adjustments, I think it is a workable solution.
“It allows us to do a brand new car every year with a number of packages throughout the season, so it’s not actually limiting us too much.
“Of course, we know we could do with three or four or five million more but I think that’s true for everyone. And we just need to maximise expenditure versus lap time, but I think is a workable solution.”