Budget cap dilemma: Experienced and expensive or cheap and young staff?

A budget cap has been active in Formula 1 since 2021. This allows teams to spend no more than a certain amount per year, which is fixed at $135 million from 2023. Personnel costs are also included in this, and therefore teams face a difficult dilemma in terms of experienced personnel.

The aim of the budget cap is to bring the field closer together. This should create more excitement in Formula 1, something that is wanted in the class. Indeed, at the moment, despite the budget cap, Red Bull Racing is very dominant.

Red Bull on budget cap dilemma

Christian Horner suggested that because of the budget cap, the positions of experienced and expensive personnel are in jeopardy, which could then be replaced by cheaper but less experienced personnel. At the press conference, Pierre Waché, technical director of the Austrian team, elaborated on his team boss's suggestion.

"In the end, the cost cap is a purpose to make the playfield common to everybody. After what is true is when you analyse where the cost is going salaries and payroll is part of it and the big payroll is also part of it. It is a risk, he [Horner] compared to some other competitor that is not an F1 competitor. That is a risk and we see if the effect is not now, but if it could happen in a few years, for sure," Waché said.

Aston Martin looks for opportunities

Dan Fallows of Aston Martin was also present at the press conference and elaborates on how his team is dealing with the limitations caused by the budget cap. "We've seen it as an opportunity I think as you have to with all of these things you have to see where the opportunities lie in that. We've been able to you know, set up a performance technologies division which can then add value to other projects not only in Aston Martin, but some other racing projects that we can get involved in I think it's a similar model to what's being used in other things so, you know from our point of view, it's been pretty positive."

Mercedes searches for the right balance

At Mercedes, they are mainly aiming for the right balance in personnel. "We're racing teams but also businesses and make a decent amount of money doing jobs that are not in the racing world. If we misjudge who we put in there and end up hurting ourselves in F1, because we bleed away experience that should have stayed in the team, then we shot ourselves in the foot. It's the challenge for all the teams on the grid to try and make sure that they get the balance right there so that they retain the best team they possibly can within the constraints of the cap," James Allison says.