Wolff is supported by Horner: 'That has to be compensated'

For weeks now there has been much ado about the sprint races that Formula 1 wants to test in 2021. Although almost everything has been decided in detail, the finances are not yet in order for the upcoming spectacle on Saturday.

According to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, the shorter race on Saturday could easily run between $300,000 to $400,000. Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner says at Auto, Motor und Sport you can't just do a calculation on that. "If everything goes wrong, Toto could be right with his estimate. If you get through the sprint race without damage, it's less."

Wolff claims that his team is already struggling to stay under the $145 million spending limit. The Austrian is joined by Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner: "If suddenly a variable of that size is added, it has to be compensated somehow."

According to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, the difference in cost with sprint racing is not as big as it is made out to be. One thing seems certain: the budget cap will not go back up. "If we ask for compensation for everything we want to try out, we will never get there. We must not lose sight of the big picture," said Domenicali.