Ferrari evaluating Formula 1 future over 'demanding' budget cap

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has warned that the manufacturer will have to consider whether to remain in Formula 1 or not if the $145 million budget cap were to decrease further.

With nine races postponed or cancelled to date, Formula 1 teams and officials have been considering ways to cut future costs, but Binotto says that the differing situations between teams mean there is no universally satisfying solution.

“F1, we have all sorts of teams with different characteristics,” Binotto told The Guardian. “They operate in different countries, under different legislation and with their own ways of working. Therefore it is not simple and straightforward to make structural changes simply by cutting costs in a linear fashion.

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“We are well aware that F1 and indeed the whole world right now is going through a particularly difficult time because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this is not the time to react in a hurry as there’s a risk of making decisions on the back of this emergency without clearly evaluating all the consequences.”

Along with a raft of technical regulation changes, 2021 was set to introduce a $175m budget cap but, now that teams will compete with their 2020 machinery for a second year, that ceiling has been lowered to $145m.

Several teams are lobbying for this to be reduced further to $130m for 2022, and Binotto says that reaching this lower number would require his team to make significant sacrifices.

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“The $145m level is already a new and demanding request compared to what was set out last June,” continued Binotto. “It cannot be attained without further significant sacrifices, especially in terms of our human resources. If it was to get even lower, we would not want to be put in a position of having to look at other further options for deploying our racing DNA.

“F1 has to be the pinnacle of motor sport in terms of technology and performance. It must be attractive for the car manufacturers and the sponsors who want to be linked to this most prestigious category. If we restrict costs excessively then we run the risk of reducing the level considerably, bringing it ever closer to the lower formulae.”

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