The FIA has approved a 3.1% readjustment of the Formula 1 budget ceiling for this year. For the rich teams, an amount that is still far from what was expected, but which further distances them from the smaller teams on the grid in all aspects - starting with voting power.
After much crying, appeals and fears of even being - amazingly - prevented from racing in some GPs of the season for lack of money, the teams of the Formula 1 grid reached an agreement with the FIA (International Automobile Federation) and will be able to spend more than the US$ 140 million (R$ 759 at current exchange rate) of the budget ceiling until the end of the season.In a statement, the FIA agreed to release the money from the budget ceiling for the remainder of the season. In a statement, the organization agreed to release a 3.1% adjustment on the current ceiling, which should generate an increase of around US$5 million.
In practice, the percentage ended up taking F1 back to last year's ceiling, which was US$145 million - an amount, therefore, still considered unrealistic for everyone, and here there are two interpretations: for the "rich cousins", it is insufficient to cover the expenses they say they have; as for the "poor" ones, it further highlights the chasm that exists for the frontrunners, since there are those who may not even have the $140 million to spend.
This is the case with Haas, for example. With the loss of sponsorship from the Russian Uralkali, it is no exaggeration to say that the American team is going through a difficult time. To have an idea, there have been 11 races and no updates to the VF-22. To make matters worse, the team has had many problems, mainly due to Mick Schumacher's two hard crashes in Saudi Arabia and Monaco - in the latter, the car even split in two.
"We are over the limit for accidents, because of the budget ceiling, we have to try to economize elsewhere. It is simply not possible to continue like this. At some point we will run out of parts, even if you put money into it, physically it becomes impossible," said Günther Steiner at the time of the race in Monte Carlo. But despite the chokehold, the Haas boss saw the budget ceiling as a great ally for smaller teams in the medium and long term.
"You don't know who is the 'best of the rest'. If we continue with this spending cap and the current rules, the teams in the middle will be closer to the top teams. We have to comply (with the budget cap). I don't have a job if I tell my boss that I won't make it to the end of the season. This is my job. We have to do it because if you don't finish the season, the next year you don't make any money," Steiner declared.
The statement makes a lot of sense, especially when starting from a completely new regulation. Mercedes, for example, saw its dominance crumble with the new rules for 2022 and cannot afford to have all the money it has to invest in testing and a totally modified car to get back on top. Reality, moreover, has already put Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in direct contention against McLaren, Alpine, and Alfa Romeo so far.
"You can expect teams like Mercedes and McLaren to make bigger strides. But at the end of the day, we also have the budget ceiling. It is the same for everyone, so we will see who can be more efficient, but there are also other factors that can influence the spending limit and other things that can happen and cost some money," Alfa Romeo track engineering director Xevi Pujolar said.
"I think the limit on the budget is a good help, as in the past teams like Mercedes would have invested large sums of money to recover. That is now a big issue for it, as it is forced not to spend as much to recover. And that helps, I believe for everyone. Honestly, I think that. So I hope it doesn't change," Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer said.
If for the "poor cousins", the spending limit is seen as a weapon, among the "rich cousins", the situation is completely different: the complaint is not only about the impossibility to update the car, but also to maintain the high standard. Red Bull even talked about having to lay off employees. Ferrari also said it didn't want to have to go that far to meet the Formula One ceiling. And although more quiet, Mercedes was also not left out of the cry: Toto Wolff cited the high energy and freight costs, affected by inflation in recent months in Europe, stemming from the war between Russia and Ukraine and also the pandemic. "Raising the budget ceiling is a help. Does it save us? Certainly not. We have to save," stressed the Silver Arrows leader.
And just like everywhere else in the world, money also spoke louder in Formula 1. The FIA was forced to discuss the issue again, and this time almost all the teams that were still against the increase changed their vote, following their links to the frontrunners: Williams, Aston Martin, and McLaren are Mercedes clients; Haas and Alfa Romeo use Ferrari engines; and AlphaTauri is Red Bull's B team.
The only solitary one ended up being Alpine, which is nobody's customer. He therefore stuck to his original thought that the regulations should be followed to the letter, but he was a dissenting vote. "We have to accept it and go with it. That is the process of the rule. If only one opposes it, it's not enough," Szafnauer lamented.
In short, the extra 3.1% won't make a difference to either side. The main teams will continue to complain that they need to save money and cry nostalgia for the times when they spent more than $300 million, as Frédéric Vasseur, Alfa Romeo's team manager, recalled. Because the great truth is that the more you earn, the more you want. It will never be enough when money is not a problem, which is why it is so difficult to find ways to "survive" with "so little".
The smaller teams will continue to do what they already do: study very carefully the changes in the cars and hope that accidents do not jeopardize their plans. After all, being able to spend more money does not mean that the amount will be available in the account. This is why, in practice, the change will actually change absolutely nothing.
In the end, it seems that Xevi Pujolar was the one who best read the design of the current Formula 1 season, and he was very direct when talking about Alfa Romeo's chances against the rich rivals: from now on, the one who brings the best upgrades will have an advantage. Not necessarily the most expensive ones.