Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri believes Formula 1 was “slowly going to die” without them backing plans for a budget cap in 2021.
A limit of $175m will be placed on teams under new financial regulations to be introduced as part of the wider overhaul next year although some key expenditures are not included.
Gaining the support of manufacturers like Ferrari, who have been synonymous with spending their way to success in the past, was always seen as the biggest challenge, but Camilleri explained why he and the company have agreed.
“I think we’ve reached a relatively good compromise in terms of the cost cap, which today applies to the chassis,” he told a gathering of the media at Maranello before Christmas.
“We’ve been in favour of it because we think it’s good for the economic sustainability of Formula 1.
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“In time, that budget cap should encompass more of the car, the power units, the drivers as well, various other things because ultimately if the sport is not economically viable, it’s slowly going to die.
“So, we viewed it as our responsibility to ensure that it will be economically viable and in doing so, I have to say that we have and others, that we principally have made certain sacrifices so that the smaller teams would get more money.
“We’re not quite there yet on many details, but I think in terms of the actual principles, we are essentially OK,” he noted.
“When you have 10 teams with all sorts of different views, there will always be continued discussion.”
One long-held perk Ferrari has enjoyed is a historical bonus of around $100m which is set to be reduced rather than scrapped, as Liberty Media had suggested early on in 2021 talks.
The final system for revenue distribution is still one area not addressed from 2021 but again Camilleri says the compromises made have been done in F1’s best interests.
“This year was critical in terms of trying to finalise the Concorde Agreement and the various chapters of the financial regulations and technical regulations,” he explained.
“Then, there’s the governance aspects and I think there’s been significant progress.
“We as Ferrari have taken very much a leadership role because of our history and because of the importance of Formula 1 to Ferrari.
“I’m quite confident that an agreement will be reached by all in the best interest of everybody.”
There were reports toward the end of last season, however, which suggested Mercedes were unhappy with Ferrari for backing the changes and hoped they would use their veto to block them.
But Haas boss Guenther Steiner had a message for those who oppose or wish to adjust the budget cap upwards in the future.
“We said we’d stick with what we got,” he was quoted by GPToday. “We are quite conservative with these things. We’re going to do what we’re doing and try to do it as good as possible.
“The next thing is the teams, when it increases and it gets decreased again they are the ones who cry about it. You knew it was coming, if you have no wish and just do what is convenient at the moment, maybe that doesn’t work.”