Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has cited the need for more underdog success as a key aim with the regulation changes for 2021.
Only three teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, have won races since the introduction of hybrid engines in 2014 and in fact, Kimi Raikkonen’s victory for Lotus at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix remains the last time neither of those teams took the chequered flag.
The podium has been slightly more diversified with Force India, Williams, Toro Rosso and McLaren all spraying champagne, but even so, the current two-tier grid that exists in F1 has been a big criticism and something Liberty Media have been keen to address.
“The underdog has to have a chance to win,” Carey told Bloomberg. “Ultimately this season (2019) you really had three teams that were competing to win.”
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Efforts to address the inequality will see a new budget cap of $175m, stricter limits on development and potentially some standard parts included per the 2021 regulations.
However, the Concorde Agreement, the document which binds the commercial rights holder, teams, the FIA and other stakeholders, is still under negotiation and some provisions, such as Ferrari’s veto and bonus payments, are expected to stay albeit at a reduced level.
“We’re in the final stages of it,” Carey said of those talks. “We have elements of the future resolved. We have the rules, regulations, the cost cap, those things have been resolved.”