Formula 1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn has revealed a first step towards implementing a budget cap will take place with a “soft” introduction in 2019.
The idea of limiting the expenditure of the teams through a cap is not new in the sport and as the spending gap between the top teams and the rest only increases, the concept resurfaced following Liberty Media’s takeover at the start of 2017.
A figure of $150m has been mentioned and was unsurprisingly met with opposition by those teams who spend more, now it appears the sport is heading in that direction though with Brawn satisfied with what he has seen.
“With the FIA and in consultation with the teams we are progressing well on the economic initiatives,” he said ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Work on the mechanism of a cost cap is going well. At the moment we are looking to introduce it in a soft form, with dry runs in 2019, and 2020 and then it will become regulatory in ’21.
“I would say that barring some last-minute discussions that’s pretty much finalised now.”
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Though conceding not all teams will abide by the cap initially, as their current operations simply make doing so impossible, Brawn does see the potential for a closing of the gap that should also impact the performance differential.
“It will reduce the differential between the teams that are at that limit and those that aren’t,” he claimed.
“At the moment I think a top team spends twice what a midfield team spends and if we reduce that margin to around 10 or 20 per cent, then there is something for the midfield teams to aspire to.
“There will still be an aura around the big teams, but a midfield team doing a great job will be able to compete.”
