FIA president Jean Todt is adamant that a cost cap in Formula 1 will not suffice to keep budgets in check but is rather keen to see a combination of capped budgets and other elements to reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Todt said, “We have been talking about cost control/cost cap for a while,” said Todt. “I believe it is a good move, but for me it has to be a combination.”
“We need to make regulations which will have some impact on the actual costs. To simply say we are going make a cost cap, I don’t think it will work. So far, any attempt has not worked.”
“We have to be able to agree something that will be more sophisticated in order to achieve that,” added Todt.
It is well known that the big Formula 1 teams are against a budget cap, while the smaller teams are calling for it as they believe this will go a long way to levelling the lopsided playing field that currently exists in the sport.
Having said that there is a unified call to reduce costs in some way as the financial commitment to race in Formula 1 increases year-by-year with little end in sight.
Formula 1 owners, stakeholders and teams are set to meet in forthcoming weeks to thrash out a way forward for the sport. Reducing costs is high on the agenda.
Big Question: Will a cost cap work in Formula 1? If yes, how will it work?