Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto claims Formula 1 teams might be unable to meet the new 2021 budget cap if more races are added.
A limit of $175m is set to be introduced, a figure which is only expected to require restructuring at the top three teams, however, it will coincide with a 24 or even 25-race calendar, the biggest in history.
As teams look to accommodate those extra races, that could lead to costs which might undo the benefits of having that cap in place.
“I think we need first to make sure that from the financial [side] we are doing the right choices,” Binotto was quoted by PlanetF1.
“There should be a benefit in terms of the overall financial balance.
“If the balance is positive, yes, we need to [re-]organise ourselves but we cannot afford an entire season of 24 races with the same single individuals.”
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And it is bringing on board the additional mechanics and personnel to be able to rotate at race weekends which could create an additional cost that makes the $175m cap trickier to abide by.
“I think as a team we want to make sure you’re keeping your people [staff] in the future, [so] you need to really try to manage the effort throughout the season, so in the end, it will have a big impact,” Binotto added.
“It will have a big impact on the number of people, it will have a big impact logistically because you need to somehow manage the transport of all the parts.
“So it’s not easy, and there’s very little time to organise ourselves as well because increasing the number of people is not something you do easily, [and doing so] using the budget cap.
“So here is the risk, because you may not [be able to] afford the right number of people simply because you need to manage extra salaries [under the budget cap]. Not an easy one.”
The easy argument against Binotto’s claims is that there are enough areas elsewhere within the team that spending could be cut to meet the budget cap.
Drivers’ salaries, for example, have increased dramatically in recent years and then there are the millions pumped into car development for a relatively small gain which naturally teams will be unwilling to give up.
This is where the policing of the cap will be crucial to ensure teams are not potentially putting staff at risk with work exhaustion to spend money elsewhere, although of course, there is the other question of whether F1 should be having a 25-race season at all…
