Six teams are pessimistic about their ability to comply with the 2022 salary cap limit
Facing the high inflation worldwide, while stating that certain teams had the intention to "exceed" the budget cap, Christian Horner reported remarks from a team directors' meeting explaining that up to six teams were afraid of violating the financial regulations.
The President of Formula One Management (FOM), Stefano Domenicali, recently expressed the wish that quicker sanctions be imposed in case teams exceed the budget cap. At the same time, the Italian displayed his unease at the thought of several teams breaching the financial regulations that have been in place since 2021.
Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull racing team, claims that certain teams had indicated, during a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission last year, that they were going to surpass him, notably due to an unprecedented inflation.
“A danger for 2022 is that there could be six teams that do not comply with the cap,” he comments. “Energy prices have been exponential, but fortunately, we have been protected from that.”
But there is a chance that several teams, including many who declared it during the meetings of the F1 commission, will exceed the cap this year.
Helmut Marko, in charge of the young driver program within the Austrian circle, shares this vision.
(I) I think that the current situation is that six teams have exceeded the cap, claims the Austrian.
« Inflation is something that was not calculable to this extent, especially when it comes to energy costs. »
The Red Bull team, involved again?
After being found guilty of breaking the budget cap (of $2.2 million) in 2021, is it conceivable that Red Bull could once again be considered the troublemakers this year?
« You can never be 100% sure,” says Horner.
« But I think that all the aspects that justified our exceeding in 2021, which, let’s remember, was the very first year of a set of very complicated regulations, allow us to comfortably stay within the budget for 2022. »
« The amount of development that we have carried out and, in particular, the damages caused by the accidents we have experienced have been significantly lower than those of our two competitors. So obviously, as long as you haven’t obtained the certificate, nothing is 100% certain. »
« But I would be very surprised if we were not within the limits of the ceiling. »
This season, the team boss hopes that the financial conclusions for 2022 can be given around the months of June, July, and not at the end of the season, as was the case last year when Red Bull only faced its penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix.
