Mercedes misses key tyre test for 2022 due to financial concerns

Mercedes has suffered its first setback since the introduction of the budget cap. Toto Wolff announced during the press conference on Thursday that his team will miss an important Pirelli test.

Hit for Mercedes

From 2021 onwards, teams are required to adhere to the budget cap. This means that teams are only allowed to spend a maximum of 145 million dollars in a season. For small teams no problem at all, but big teams like Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes have to make choices. Mercedes has already felt the consequences.

At the press conference on Thursday in Monaco Wolff confirmed that Mercedes will not participate in the Pirelli rain tyres test. This test is for the new tyres for 2022, and therefore an important moment to test the tyres for the new season. Mercedes has to let this opportunity pass them by.

Crash Bottas hurts Mercedes

''Yes, that's right. We are trying to make the budget cap, which is not trivial and we couldn’t take the costs related to the tyre test and we wouldn’t have been able to send our mechanics on such a long journey'', Wolff said in Monaco. Competitor Ferrari does go after the test, and so one wonders if Valtteri Bottas ' crash has had a heavier impact on Mercedes' budget after all.

''As Ferrari, we always said that 2022 is somehow our priority over 2021 and testing Pirelli tyres, helping Pirelli develop the new tyres we believe is important for us. Luckily enough we didn’t have a crash in Imola so eventually, we have some more contingency to Mercedes today, so somehow we are happy to accept and support'', said Mattia Binotto.