14/08/2021
NEWS STORY
Revealing that crashes, such as that at the Hungaroring, have cost Ferrari €2.5m so far this season, Mattia Binotto joins Christian Horner in questioning the budget cap.
Considering the problems faced by Max Mosley when he attempted to introduce a budget cap, the move almost leading to the break-up of the sport, some were more than a little surprised when, under its new ownership, the sport got the teams to finally agree with barely more than a whimper of dissent.
This year saw the $145m cap introduced for the first time, and by 2023 this will have fallen to $135m.
However, nobody appeared to notice at least one elephant in the room, the question of how such a cap would impact teams should their drivers be involved in accidents, especially those accidents in which they were the innocent victim.
In the wake of the infamous Silverstone clash, Christian Horner revealed that Max Verstappen's car had incurred $1.8m (£1.3m) in damage, while God only knows what the bill for the Hungaroring weekend came to for the Austrian outfit.
With his engine irreparably damaged, Charles Leclerc, the victim of Lance Stroll's overenthusiasm, has, according to team boss, Mattia Binotto, left Ferrari with a hefty repair bill. Indeed, he suggests that so far this season accidents have cost the Maranello squad €2.5m (£2.1m).
Understandably, the Italian is not impressed, and like Horner is now questioning an aspect of the budget cap that appears to have been overlooked.
"This is the amount we have spent, from Bahrain to Hungary, for the damage suffered on the track and we are only halfway through the season," he told Autosprint.
"There have been, and continue to be, discussions on the matter. In case of an accident, in which you are involved without blame, is it right to keep the damage account out of the budget cap?" he continued.
"The point is important. The reason why I quoted our figure is to show that overall the damage can cost a lot and therefore, I wonder, should we consider a different type of regulation in those cases?
"It is not easy to find a solution, but I think it is something we will undoubtedly discuss with the FIA, F1 and all the other teams in the coming weeks."
"It's been a significant challenge," he subsequently told Motorsport.com of the cap, "but I think the whole organisation has responded incredibly well.
"It's been about addressing efficiency, which Formula 1 teams haven't been particularly great at in prior years," he admitted.
"I think the challenge is significant, it's ongoing, but it's been well embraced," he insisted. "Obviously we've driven efficiency through internal capacity in terms of not outsourcing components and I think we've seen significant reductions. But it's been a challenge and will continue to be a challenge to get there.
"But I think as a discipline for Formula 1, it definitely has a serious impact on the costs."