Williams deputy boss Claire Williams hopes Ferrari won’t use their power to veto rule changes as 2021 talks continue.
The Italian team has been one of the main voices during the ongoing process and initially threatened to quit, although that receded after the passing of chairman Sergio Marchionne.
A budget cap of $175m, increased standardisation and less aerodynamic freedom are just some areas that Ferrari has questioned and while there is no sign of their veto being used, Williams wants it to stay that way.
“I haven’t heard the word on the street that Ferrari is planning on vetoing,” she was quoted by PlanetF1.
“We’ve got this gap now between when the regulations need to be signed off by the end of October, across all the regulations, not just the technical ones.
“Clearly, from our perspective, we are hoping there are no significant changes to any of those, the financial regulations, in particular, the technical regulations have still got some work to be done to them.
“But we all have to work in the best interests of our sport and that’s to create a great sport for the drivers and teams and also to create a great show for the fans and make sure that the fans keep turning up to watch us and keep tuning in.
“We need to think about that rather than our own agendas if we’re going to think about the future of the sport.”
Williams has been one of the biggest advocates for the budget cap as they feel the financial strain of trying to compete with manufacturers and so-called ‘B-teams’.
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Claire, however, once again denied the Grove-based outfit was in any kind of trouble.
“We’ve had a healthy racing budget now for many years,” she told RaceFans.
“I think that people quite like to have at least one team in this sport that they can use as a means by which they can talk about the negatives of this sport and this sport’s in trouble.
“I think that people are looking at Williams to use as that team at the moment.
“But, we’re a publicly listed company; everyone can see our results. We’ve had some really good years, made a profit over those years. 2020 and beyond are looking OK for us.
“This isn’t an easy environment to be in, trying to accrue huge amounts of sponsorship money to keep your racing team going, and so we’ve always had to be slightly creative when it comes to how we generate our income.
“In 2021, from a cost cap and prize fund distribution perspective, it can be very positive for us as the first years start playing out.”
