Earlier this year Formula One boss Max Mosley confirmed, in a letter to all 11 teams active at the time, that there would be a team budget cap in place for the 2009 season.
The cap is rather specific and excludes several areas, such as engine construction and development, driver wages, marketing and promotion, and, not surprisingly, team principal wages.
It's difficult at this time to determine what exactly this will mean for the 2009 season and how it will affect the way teams spend money. With the restrictions placed on car development and design for the 2009 season, a budget cap on aerodynamic design may well be a non-issue anyhow.
Some teams, especially BMW Sauber, have expressed interest in such a system. Lowering the amount of money the teams must spend to stay competitive is obviously appealing to many of the current squads, and it is a primary goal of Mosley, as he moves forward with his bevy of planned changes.
This seems to follow in the shadow of the somewhat abstract restrictions placed on wind tunnel and CFD use this season. It appears that the current Formula One Management is intent on limited the technological freedom of the sport, for better or worse.
comments (11) write a comment »
write a new comment
5 months ago
If we get a budget cap, we'll see more teams that struggle to find the current cars. We need a fairer sport rather than there been 3 seperate races. Ferrari,BMW and McLaren in one, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Williams, Honda and Toro Rosso in another and Force India left on their own after Super Aguri folded.
Good article.
5 months ago
I agree, its tough to find the balance between equalizing the sport and rewarding the frontrunning teams for their technological innovation.
5 months ago
agreed it's time for F1 to become even leaner and meaner, saving money even if you're sitting on a pile of gold like the big 3 Honda and Toyota is all but lacking efficient spending; once the budget cap comes into force teams will have to be a lot more efficient i.e. less wastage - good stuff!
5 months ago
something you said there, less wastasge. I've always wondered how much waste there is after so many aerodynamical tests when parts get sent to scrapheap. Should we get one aero package for all?
from 5 months ago
I don't like the idea of unifying the aero package. Such varied machines is one of the things that sets F1 apart. I don't want to see it become like GP2, or any of the other single seaters with one make. There are enough already. That said, it would cut down on waste, and buget significantly, since teams spend the most on aero R&D.
5 months ago
Hey Michael
One aero package for all won't work in F1 it does in champ car but that's a different story altogether; one big problem with F1 today is that it consumes so much energy I mean flying your F1 crew around the globe, then wind turbines running 24/7; add to that the cars fuel consumption and everything else and we end up with such a high carbon footprint - petrol barrels have reached 122 dollars in NYSE recently I don't mean to say but yeah if we can significantly reduce cost then let's do it and if that means reducing wastages through tougher regulations so be it.
5 months ago
I think we may se F1 confined to one continent in the future. This would keep carbon emissions down a bit, and I had heard a rumour that some teams are testing ideas for enrgy efficient cars, including solar panel bodywork.
from 5 months ago
I hope not, it would be nothing but a play. Limiting F1 to one continent to cut their emissions would be trivial. I hope sports remain as uneffected as possible by the "green" fad. I have zero interest in energy efficient RACE cars. That kind of innovation belongs in commuters.
Thanks for the comments again Michael, intriguing as always.
5 months ago
If F1 has to suffer a unified aero-package I stop watching. Period. It is the most interesting area of freedom in development and one we can all see with out own eyes. It is the most unique and interesting technical aspect of the sport. Take that away and I'll watch golf on the weekends.
from 5 months ago
Agreed in full.
4 months ago
Raising half the cows in the world that we currently raise would do much more for the environment than making F1 cars more fuel-efficient. I'd gladly become a vegetarian (or at least stop eating beef) if it meant I could watch F1 the way it was supposed to be...my apologies to the observant Hindus that may read this.
I don't understand why you need to cap the budgets. If the teams want to "waste" money, and they aren't struggling to pay the bills, that's their purview. What happens when everything like aero becomes standard? 90% of the budget will go to drivers, because the teams know that basically whomever has Raikkonen, Hamilton, Alonso, or Massa (perhaps Kubica and Kovalainen as well, who knows) will win. I don't see why putting more money into engines would be wrong. Currently, that's what is preventing Renault from being competitive. You're basically telling them, "Guess what? You can't spend as much money as you'd like on aero, which is the only thing you can currently play with to try to get back in the game, and the thing that you'd LIKE to spend money on, which would truly get you back up to the front, the ENGINE, you can't even touch." To me, that is silly. I hope that this is only part of a cycle, where in the future teams will be allowed more freedoms that are or soon will be denied them.
write a new comment