Sauber team principal Fred Vasseur is wary the introduction of a budget cap could leave Formula 1 open to “ridicule” without a flawless method of monitoring.
Reducing the inequality between the top teams and those at the back is one of the main aims of owners Liberty Media, whether it be through evening up the distribution of revenue and/ or a budget cap.
Such a move would benefit the likes of Sauber, who have a budget 10 times less that of the top three, Vasseur even admitted the gap would be smaller, but fears the potential for finances could become too dominant in the F1 conversation.
“We could go with financial monitoring, but I am a bit scared about this,” the former Renault boss told Motorsport.com. On paper, it could work but then you have to see how we are able to monitor it during the season to avoid being in a situation that we have in the news or on websites that Ferrari or Mercedes spent 10 Euros more than is allowed.
“Something like that, for the show and the image of F1, would be a worst-case scenario because at this stage – for the fans – the bad side of F1 is that it has become a matter of budgets and if all together we are only talking about budgets, it would be a nightmare.”
Instead, the Frenchman believes F1 should concentrate on reducing the competitive advantage a team gets from high levels of spending.
“If you want to have a cost cap at $150 million, then it will not affect Force India, it will not affect us, and it will not affect a majority of the teams,” he said, with that figure the speculated amount being suggested.
“The best way would be to do it through regulation: limiting the necessary budget to be a good performant through regulation.
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“Mercedes will always be able to spend much more than us, which is fine, but at least you have to give the opportunity for the small teams to be in a position to fight for podiums,” he added.
“If you want a good teaser at the start of the race, then it is that [Esteban] Ocon or [Sergio] Perez could be on a podium at every race if they do a good job.
“At the moment you have two Mercedes, two Ferraris and two Red Bulls, and that is a bit boring.”
