The FIA abandons capped budgets for 2015

The FIA announced at the end of last year that it intended to cap the budgets of teams entered in the championship to limit their expenses. A clarification of this measure was expected to occur at the beginning of the summer, but Jean Todt, present in Bahrain this weekend, announced that it was ultimately abandoned.

Originally, the majority of teams had given a favorable opinion on this decision to cap budgets, but after a recent consultation by the FIA with the F1 Strategy Group composed of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Lotus, and Williams, this idea no longer proved interesting, as Jean Todt clarified on the sidelines of the Bahrain Grand Prix: « Most teams were in favor of budget caps. But now, all the teams that are part of the Strategy Group are against it. So clearly, if the holder of commercial rights, and if six teams, which means 12 votes out of 18, are against, I cannot impose it. It’s mathematical. So in this case, no more cost caps, » he explained to our British colleagues from Autosport.

Indeed, they believe that implementing and maintaining a capped budget that would satisfactorily cover all teams is impossible. Furthermore, they suggest that cost reductions should instead be induced by technical and sporting regulations.

The president of the FIA expressed clear disappointment with this decision, as he believed that this measure would be easily applicable: « In a certain sense, I am disappointed. I think it will now be difficult to achieve a reduction in costs, which is nevertheless necessary. But everyone says that we are all in favor of cost reduction, through technical and sporting regulations. »

This measure was also intended to encourage the entry of new teams into Formula 1 by the 2015 season. However, this turn of events should not dampen the enthusiasm of the team Hass Racing, which seems to be on the verge of joining the grid soon.