Bojan Vrbnjak
From the season 2021 in Formula 1 is valid budget ceiling. This year, the teams will have to tighten their belts even more. If they could have spent last year 145 million dollars will be available this year 140 million.
"It was very difficult to structure the organization so that we stuck to the $ 140 million budget ceiling,”Is Toto wolff underlined the problems caused by new teams in large teams financial rules. Just for comparison: Years 2019 was the budget of the silver arrows 425 million dollars! Last season, this spending limit didn’t cause any problems yet, as it was technical regulations largely taken from the previous 2020 season - with a few exceptions - and because it is largely over the course of the season did not carry out further development, as teams focused on 2022 and new race cars.
Season 2022 - balancing development costs
But with the arrival new generations of race cars Formula 1 is moving on unknown terrain and many are to be expected during the year innovation. But these need to be funded and with that reduce the amount budget ceilings. James key, technical director of the team McLaren, warned at the presentation of the team car: “If you run out of ammunition too soon, then you may not have the money to bring in new ones later."
Wolff there are similar concerns. “We need to think carefully about where we are going to spend our dollars on research and development.“In the past, it was easier because he made it possible huge budget and they were able to develop in this way many variants. "Today, you have to decide which option offers the greatest potential and rely on that option. It's a completely different way of working, especially with big teams,”He explained Austrian.
Inflation is also a cause for concern
Team boss Mercedes he also pointed out one problem arising from the world economic situation and that is inflation. "In addition to reducing the budget ceiling by five million dollars, we must add the environment of high inflation that we currently have,”Remark Wolff. Because the inflation rate has been high in many European countries in recent months grew steeply - this is what we consumers feel on our payment slips and in-store invoices. In the euro area, this amounts to 5,1 percent. In the UK, where it is headquartered Mercedes of the Formula 1 team, prices in January compared to January 2021 increased by 5,5 percent.
To add this to the common budgetary constraint teams of $ 140 million, that would mean a loss of value of 7,3 million dollars plus a reduction in the budget ceiling. Otherwise, it is difficult to determine to what extent general calculation of inflation it also reflects the expenditure structure of the Formula 1 team. But even if it is effective inflation lower, teams will have Mercedes, Red Bull and others established in The United Kingdom after adjusting inflation in his pocket more than ten million dollars less than in 2021.
