Team Ferrari has announced that they would not accept a further reduction of the 2021 budget.
Initially capped at $175m, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a cut in costs and operation, because, so far, no money has been made, and it would be unrealistic to still finance the 2021 season as planned.
The various teams have met with the FIA and Formula 1 execs to discuss reductions in the budget. They all managed to reach a new budget of $150m.
This seemed fair, but some teams are opting for more reduction. Even though they have the interest of the sport in mind, other bigger teams are not in support of it, particularly Ferrari. Teams that want a reduction, want the budget to be reduced to $145m, then $130m in 2022.
Matteo Binotto, Ferrari boss, had urged teams to be careful not to allow emotions affect their decision on how low the budget should go.
He said that $150m is the least amount that Ferrari would accept and anything lower than that could force Ferrari to start considering other racing options outside the Formula 1. This is because of the strain it would put on the teams, forcing them to make changes to reduce costs, including cutting their staff.
According to Binotto, “The $145m level is already a new and demanding request compared to what was set out last June. If it was to get even lower, we would not want to be put in a position of having to look at other further options for deploying our racing DNA.”
The last sentence was, however, taken out of context, with some people believing that Ferrari was ready to pull out if there was further reduction. Although Ferrari has denied such notion, implying that Binotto meant they would have “to look at further options, besides continuing racing in F1, for deploying our racing DNA.”
Big teams, like Red Bull, do not favour a further budget cut, knowing how it could affect them. But some other teams, like McLaren, prefer a cut up to $100m.
What Binotto suggested is that teams that manufacture or supply parts should be allowed to spend more but the suggestion is yet to gain support. He is appealing to teams to deeply think things through before making further budget cuts.
Written by: Leon Osamor
