Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul: F1 budget cap could increase costs

Renault

Renault: F1 budget cap could increase costs

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 19 June 2019 14:07

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Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul says the proposed budget cap in Formula 1's 2021 regulations could bizarrely serve to see the French squad actually up their spending. The final figure for the proposed limit is $175million – a higher figure than Liberty Media had reportedly sought originally.

F1'a biggest teams, including Mercedes and Ferrari, were vocal opponents of many aspects of the proposed shake-up, and the higher spending cap is reportedly in response to pressure from them.

Abiteboul says Renault, last season's fourth-best team, currently plan to spend way below the limit, which he believes could well fail in its purpose to level the playing field in F1.

He told Motorsport.com: "We are well below. In no shape or form is it a saving opportunity for us.

"We are just thinking what we need to do: whether we need to freeze the current level because we think it is way below but high enough to be competitive, or we need to increase.

"We may have to increase because it [the budget cap level] is higher than we were anticipating. Substantially higher. But it is a discussion that we need to have with our shareholders because that is not a decision I can make myself.

"It is a question that you need to ask to most of the top teams because here again, I am missing some information about their actual level of expenditure.

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"I keep on hearing very different figures on the level that they are operating at now. If that $175million means that they need to save $10million per year, it is a lot of money for you and I, but for companies like that, which are massively inefficient from an economic perspective, it would make absolutely no difference.

"But sometimes they say they will need to save $40/50/60million – and that would make a difference. So the real question is to what extent that figure will create a shock in their organisation. And that, I frankly don't know."