Williams boss James Vowles explains how Mercedes EXPLOITED cost cap

Williams

Williams boss Vowles explains how Mercedes EXPLOITED cost cap

Williams boss James Vowles says the cost cap rules in F1 are a good thing but they don't account for one major factor

Dan McCarthy

Tuesday 27 June 2023 19:57

Williams team principal James Vowles says there are elements of the F1 cost cap that hurt teams lower down the grid, saying it did not account for assets that teams already had.

Introduced in 2021, the cost cap means that every year, teams have a maximum budget that they can spend with the vision being to ensure closer racing.

Red Bull were found guilty of breaching the cost cap, set at $145million initially, and were slapped with a fine totalling $7million.

Reductions have been made to the original $145m budget with 2023's sitting at around $138.6m.

Vowles says that the rules in general are positive but says it is tough for teams near the bottom to still compete with those at the top as the bigger teams have better equipment and resources accumulated over the years.

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Williams have not been able to jump up the grid despite the new rules

“There’s the operational budget cap, which is the number that most people know,” he told RaceFans. “That’s the $145m – which is not really $145m, it’s larger than that because there’s various corrections applied to it – that’s the number everyone thinks of the cost cap.

“That bit, I’m completely in support of. It’s a good thing. It’s why these businesses are now becoming sustainable. It’s why Formula 1’s growing the way it is.

“What wasn’t a good decision is we have a capital expenditure side of the cost cap. When I had my Mercedes hat on, unfortunately I knew what this would do which is why we were so keen on signing it up and restricting this.

“At Mercedes we had about $300 million-worth of equipment that Williams does not have. That’s locked in and no one else would ever catch that up. And even if they could, imagine how long it takes you to spend $300 million, get the money together, put it in place.

“That’s why the big teams signed up to the cost cap very quickly. And, for small teams, what it meant is that we’re fighting really with one arm behind our back by comparison.”