07/04/2018
NEWS STORY
Despite being one of the most vocal in calling for change over the years, Red Bull's Christian Horner didn't seem particularly enthused by FOM's proposals.
Like most team bosses, Horner was giving little away in terms of FOM's presentation in the hours that followed, admitting that while much of it has been heard before, "the big question now is... the devil is always in the detail... when you put things out there...how is it going to be delivered?"
Asked about getting down to a $150m budget cap, the Briton told Sky Sports: "To get to those numbers is going to be tough. But first we've got to get the details on the table, say what's in and what's out, I think that's going to be a crucial period of time.
"This needs to be done in the next couple of months," he admitted, "which is ambitious, there's some big topics to deal with; engines, budget caps and redistribution of the prize fund, it's ambitious but they've got to go for it, at least they've put a target down and said 'we want this nailed down within a couple of months'."
Asked why the proposed regulations are coming from FOM rather than the FIA, Horner said: "It's their championship, they paid $8bn for this business, so they're laying out 'this is what we want for the future, this is why we paid this money for the sport, this is what we see its future being'.
"Up until now I think they've done some really commendable stuff, for us now, what we're going to be interested to know, is how they are going to achieve that.
"I think there's a basis there that we can discuss," he said, "and hopefully find consensus on. Like in any negotiation, a decent outcome will be where both sides are not totally happy.
"The bottom line is that all this is going to have a much bigger effect on three teams running at the front of the grid while the guys from P4 downwards are potentially going to get a lot of upside, so you'll see some happy faces at that end of the paddock and some bigger challenges at this end."
In terms of new blood coming into the sport, most notably engine partner Aston Martin, he admitted: "Currently the drawbridge is up. But you may have seen the reaction of Aston Martin's CEO in reaction to the proposals. There are manufacturers on the outskirts of Formula One, wanting to come in, but the way the regulations are currently written it's prohibitive. The drawbridge is up and it's a question of bringing it down, getting the costs down and getting the spectacle right."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Bahrain, here.