10/03/2020
NEWS STORY
In recent years, certainly according to Gene Haas, F1 has been about a "Formula B" rather than 'B Teams'.
However, aside from the obvious relationship between Red Bull and AlphaTauri, there is the close tie between Ferrari and Haas, not forgetting Alfa Romeo, and now, seemingly, Racing Point and Mercedes.
Be it as simple as engine supply, or more complex such as sourcing components such as gearboxes and suspension parts, McLaren boss, Andreas Seidl believes that not only is it unfair but will lead to protests, and looking ahead to 2021, could allow the bigger teams to use their partners in order to circumvent the limitations imposed by the budget cap.
"We assume that the co-operation that is there between Racing Point and Mercedes is within the regulations, so there's no point to complain", he said, according to Motorsport Week.
"It's more important for us to look at what's happening for 2021 regulations and beyond," he added. "I think there it's even more clear or restricted what is allowed in terms of a working relationship between two teams.
"The FIA needs to make sure they are on top of this game," he continued, "that the co-operation between two teams is first of all always within the regulations, and doesn't allow the big team for example to benefit from things that are happening at a smaller team related to these so-called listed parts.
"We all know these examples which are around also in the press, like people rotating between teams or the coffee machine, talks you have between two different teams talking about concepts and so on.
"This is something that we are worried about and that is our focus on the discussions we have with the FIA to make sure this is properly policed as that would obviously go against the regulations.
"It would help, let's say an, A-team, having a co-operation to go around the regulations to increase their resources beyond the idea of the budget cap and that is the biggest worry for us to be honest."