Renault would have to increase their annual spending if they decided to meet the proposed budget cap in 2021.
That is the claim from team boss Cyril Abiteboul, who has been one of the biggest critics after a figure of $175m was revealed as the expected limit to be put in place.
While that number is a reduction for the top three teams, who reportedly spent around $250m on the areas included in the cap, the Frenchman says in terms of a cost reduction measure, it wouldn’t work.
“We are well below. In no shape or form is it a saving opportunity for us,” he was quoted by GPFans.com.
“We are just thinking about what we need to do: whether we need to freeze the current level because we think it is way below but high enough to be competitive, or we need to increase.
“We may have to increase because it [the budget cap level] is higher than we were anticipating. Substantially higher. But it is a discussion that we need to have with our shareholders because that is not a decision I can make myself.”
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The Renault chief also warned that, based on what the actual figures are that the top teams spend, the $175m figure may not actually represent much of a cut at all.
“It is a question that you need to ask most of the top teams because here again, I am missing some information about their actual level of expenditure,” Abiteboul acknowledged.
“I keep on hearing very different figures on the level that they are operating at now. If that $175million means that they need to save $10million per year, it is a lot of money for you and me, but for companies like that, which are massively inefficient from an economic perspective, it would make absolutely no difference.
“But sometimes they say they will need to save $40/50/60million – and that would make a difference. So the real question is to what extent that figure will create a shock in their organisation and that, I frankly don’t know.”