Horner during budget cap discussions: "Always teams that run in the back"

Last year, the budget cap was set at $175 million a year for a Formula 1 team, but the corona crisis is being seized upon to reduce this amount even further. This idea has led to different opinions among the teams in the king's class of motor racing.

It's mainly the top teams against the smaller teams. Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and (to a slightly lesser extent) Mercedes are of the opinion that they have already made a lot of water in the previous negotiations and argue that the DNA of Formula 1 should be preserved and budgets should not be cut too far. On the other hand, the teams that are a little less competitive and would like the amount to go even further down so that they can also compete for podiums during Grands Prix.

Discussion is about competitiveness

"Teams are competitive beasts, of course they are looking to use an angle," says Horner in The Guardian. According to Red Bull's team boss, discussions about the budget ceiling are not directly about money. "It's more about competitiveness."

Therefore, the core of the discussions is to reduce the differences between the teams in Formula 1. "It's about trying to bring the top teams down to a level where the midfield teams feel they can compete", Horner explains.

Horner points to reality

According to Horner, however, the teams shouldn't lift too much. "The reality is that whatever the level of spend there will always be teams that run at the front and teams that run at the back," concludes the 46-year-old chief.