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Cost cap revelation comes to light after F1 team admit running close to limit

The cost cap has been a controversial topic within F1 since its inception in 2021

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Thursday 18 January 2024 16:57

Haas F1 team owner, Gene Haas, has admitted that they are 'pretty darn close' breaching the cost cap limit as he hit back at claims that the team do not spend as much money as their rivals.

Since 2021, a limit has now been introduced as to how much F1 teams can spend developing and building their cars.

Brought in to try and level the playing field, it has prevented teams who are able to simply throw money at problems from outmuscling the field in the financial arena away from the track.

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Although not a perfect solution – nor one that will have overnight success – there has been plenty of praise for its implementation.

The idea of the cost cap was brought in to allow cars like Haas to one day challenge the likes of Red Bull

And it now turns out that Haas came close to breaching the cost cap limit

And Haas has now revealed the team came very close to going over the limit, stating that they are willing to spend where necessary.

Haas: We came close to F1 cost cap breach

“There is a perception we spend a lot less money; we’re usually within $10m of the budget limit,” he told F1.com.

“I just think we don’t do a very good job of spending that money. A lot of teams have had previous investments in their infrastructure, buildings, equipment and personnel.

"Our model was to outsource a lot of that. We spend a lot of money. We haven’t exceeded the cap but we’re pretty darn close to it. I just don’t think we’re doing a very good job of spending it in the most effective way.”

“That’s one of the reasons we have survived – because we are so conscious of how we spend money,” he added.

“Being efficient at what we do is going to make sure we survive in this series. We’re one of the longest surviving teams, everyone else [other new teams] have had the tendency to spend all their money in the first few years and then they go out of business.

“We survived for eight years, and we’re not in a situation where we are going to go out of business. But I certainly want to be able to survive for the next 10 years.”

Red Bull Mercedes Gene Haas Haas F1 Team