Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams confessed that she sympathized with the bigger teams over the reduced budget cap. After weeks of debating, F1 teams have finally agreed to lower the 2021 budget cap. Claire praised the top 3 for recognizing the gravity of the situation and giving in to the midfield’s demands.

Williams sympathizes with the bigger teams

Recently, the F1 cost cap saga finally concluded after weeks of squabbling among teams. As things stand, F1 will enforce a $145M financial ceiling on car development from 2021. The original budget cap stood at $175M but the smaller teams successfully pushed for a reduction in the limit.

With Coronavirus throwing the 2020 F1 season out of gear, all the teams are currently facing a financial crunch. Smaller teams like Williams and Haas are the worst affected and are hanging onto the sport by a thread. To level the playing field and mitigate the effect of the financial crisis to a certain degree, midfield teams were pushing for a revised cap.

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Teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari spend nearly twice or thrice as much as the smaller teams on car development. While cutting such an enormous budget in half is no easy task, it’s a crucial step in preventing the bigger teams from driving off into the distance in the Championship. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Williams highlighted the importance of the cost cap whilst also sympathizing with the top teams.

“They’re operating on budgets that are so much greater than that[$175M]”

“and I think the very fact that they’ve seen the reality and the gravity of the situation for everyone else”

“and those of us running teams, it’s not going to be easy moving forward and they’ve had to come down even further”

“So I have great sympathy for them but also I’m so pleased that they’ve seen the enormity of the situation and reacted in the way that they’ve needed to.”

“Teams going out and spending hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars going racing every year, is that really relevant anymore?

“I think this sport has to ensure that it retains its relevancy within society”

“That’s something that we need to tackle”

“and through this situation, we’ve been able to do that as well as a by-product.”

While the bigger teams may need to readjust their finances, Williams themselves are also in a spot of bother. The British team desperately needs a change of fortune and some good results, to continue its presence within the sport.