Christian Horner, Red Bull Formula 1 boss, believes it would be a “catastrophe” for the sport, if team members have to pay the price for budget cap.
The global inflation has hit the teams which are struggling to stay below the $140 million budget cap. The cap was introduced to provide a level field for all the teams.
Ferrari and McLaren has publicly admitted that the have reached the budget cap. Because global costs have jumped high.
Horner on Budget Cap
Horner has showed his discomfort about the matter and expressed his concerns.
“We’ve had to rein everything back,” added Horner to the implications of the budget cap. “I think the problem with uncertainty with a cap, and with the rate of inflation that we’re seeing, is there’s only parts. And people that are really the biggest cost drivers.
“It would be, I think, a catastrophe for F1. People would have to take a hit for something that is beyond their control. I think there’s a moral issue that needs to be dealt with as well there.
“I know the FIA are looking at it, together with the Liberty guys. Because nobody could have expected this kind of inflation.”
Horner claims that the financial restriction is not just affecting the top teams. Because the problem is also affecting the teams further down the line. It shows how big the budget cap problem is.
“Perhaps I’m the one that’s talked the most about it. But our problems are not the biggest in this area,” he said. “I think Mercedes, they employ more people and they have higher salaries within their group than ourselves. Ferrari is again, another very big team with high costs.
“When you hear of teams in the mid-grid that are also going to be in breach of the cap. That were pushing for the cap to be lower originally, I think it shows.
“And it’s not about development. It’s not about development being the biggest contributor to these costs. It’s just the fixed costs of going racing with freight, with energy, with utilities, and with the supply of components. It has just gone stratospheric.”
