2022 regulations have brought some drastic changes to the functioning of all teams. The primary motive of the new regulations was to close the gap between teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari to the rest of the grid. The FIA introduced another such rule to make racing more competitive in 2021, the budget cap.
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FIA put the budget cap in place to control the spending by the top three teams. The FIA even reduced the cap to $140 million in 2022, $5 million lower compared to 2021. However, after retaliation, reforms are introduced to factor in over 22 races and sprint races.
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The stringent cap, however, is creating additional responsibilities within F1 as explained by the Mercedes boss.
“So we have a tracker with financial engineers that track every single process and every single part that comes into the car,” said Toto Wolff.
Wolff added, “So when we take things out of the truck, the financial engineer notes, the value. When you utilize it’s being counted for. You are following this trend, like we have planned. We didn’t bring a lot at the beginning but it’s coming steadily now.”
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Although the teams are working under a budget since the 2021 season, the FIA has introduced a new reform in the current season. The FIA has factored in inflation and rising costs for this season and increased the cap by 3.1%. A much-needed breathing room as teams try to cut costs on all fronts without compromising performance.
However, the biggest concern remains about how the FIA will penalize overspending.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, confident about FIA’s ruling on overspending
There is still ambiguity surrounding the penalty levied on any team exceeding the budget cap. However, the Mercedes boss is confident that FIA will follow an honest procedure in their dealings, keeping in mind the inflation rebate.
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Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 10, 2022 Mercedes’ Team Principal Toto Wolff during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
He said, “It was last year already [when the cost cap came in] and we will have the results whether everybody adhered to the rules of last year and the reports are going to come out.”
“So I think you know, you can’t get that wrong because if you’re breaking the rules, in the same way you do when breaking the rules on technical stuff,” concluded Wolff.
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Whatever the penalty will be for overspending, it will definitely play a part in the championship. Especially because the likeliest overspenders would be the top three in the championship table.
