Will the Extreme Surge in Costs Force FIA to Increase the Budget Cap in F1?

F1 introduced a budget cap to limit the expenditure of the teams in the 2021 season. Last year, the cap was $145 million, meaning that every team, from Ferrari to Haas, could only spend $145 million throughout the season. But this season, the cost cap has been further slashed by $5M. So now, the F1 teams are only allowed to spend $140 million to develop their cars in 2022.

But there might be a change in this year’s cost cap soon. Many teams, including Red Bull, have complained that the governing body needs to increase the budget cap, considering the economic activity in the world. And it looks like that FIA might increase the budget for the teams as it would be difficult for them to compete with just one $140 million dollars.

Why is F1 increasing the budget cap for the 2022 season?

The world is going through a tough time from an economical standpoint. The coronavirus pandemic has affected every country and now the Russian – Ukraine conflict is also affecting the economic activities in the world.

It is reported that the transport, electricity, and labor costs have increased because of the war and Covid-19. This is making it hard for the F1 teams to operate their infrastructure throughout the season. In light of this, Horner had pleaded with FIA to intervene and make changes to the budget cap for the upcoming season.

The Red Bull team boss has said, “What you have to remember is when the budget cap was set back in the midst of the pandemic, in the middle of 2020, nobody could have foreseen the circumstances we have in the world today.”

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“It’s the duty of the regulator to look at this with a degree of urgency to make sure the relief is put in place to take into account what’s going on in the world with the cost-of-living increases we will all see,” Christian concluded.

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Amidst all these issues in the world, it makes sense to increase the budget cap a little. When F1 introduced the budget cap, they surely did not take into consideration the current scenario that is in Europe. But it would be interesting to see by how much the FIA would increase the budget cap.