Imago
Mattia Binotto
Imago
Mattia Binotto
Earlier, there were talks of Scuderia Ferrari threatening to quit F1 due to their budget cap opposition. However, team principal Mattia Binotto insisted that the Maranello outfit is open to supplying customer cars to help smaller teams. As it turns out, the coronavirus pandemic, all 10 F1 teams stand to lose millions. This is because, with every race lost, the revenue earned lessens.
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Recently, FIA president Jean Todt told Auto Motor und Sport that F1 is afraid of losing teams before the crisis dies down. In response, several smaller teams began pushing for a reduced budget cap. They demanded a $145m budget cap for 2021 and a further reduction to $130m in the following year. However, a few other teams wanted it reduced even further, to $100m.
The likes of Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull have become massive roadblock for the proposed budget cap. This is because, the suggestions offer a huge drop from their current substantial budgets.
Fortunately, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner pitched the idea of supplying customer cars to smaller teams. Evidently, Ferrari also backed this notion and were open to helping smaller teams stay afloat
“If we were really serious about reducing the cost, particularly for the small teams, I would be in full favour of supplying for the next two years a full customer car,” he told The Guardian. “The smaller teams wouldn’t need any R&D. They would run just as race teams and they would reduce their costs enormously.”
Ferrari are willing, but are other teams?
Unfortunately, this idea did not thrill Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner. However, Binotto confessed that Scuderia Ferrari may be open to supply struggling teams.
Already, the Italian giants supply engines, gearboxes, suspensions and other listed parts to Haas and Alfa Romeo. Renault, Mercedes and Honda also have their own partnered teams
Binotto The Guardian: “If the current emergency really put the existence of some of our competitors in this sport in doubt and made it necessary to revise certain cornerstones, then Ferrari would be open to it. It’s not even sacrilegious, given it’s happened before in F1 and happens today in series such as MotoGP.”
