Distinctly setting itself apart from other underperforming Formula 1 teams, Alpha Tauri has expressed reservations about the recent $20 million augmentation in the strict budget cap guidelines.
Reviewing the performances across 2020, 2021, and 2022, the teams on the lower spectrum – Williams, Haas, Sauber, and Alpha Tauri – have been bestowed with additional ‘recovery’ funds beyond the regular budget cap, meant to uplift their archaic infrastructures.
This initiative received a nod from James Vowles, the proactive head at Williams and previously the strategy anchor at Mercedes, who commented that the surplus budget is a “good step” but not “the 100 (million) I was looking for”.
Queried about his standpoint, the chief of Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, opined it is “dangerous” for Formula 1 to contemplate potentially “breaking” the established budget cap simply based on the sport’s flourishing commercial “going well today”.
Echoing this sentiment, Peter Bayer, recently inducted as the CEO at Red Bull’s Alpha Tauri, stated, “I agree with Fred actually.”
Transitioning from his pivotal role at FIA, where he managed responsibilities as F1’s executive director and sport’s secretary-general, Bayer observed, “Having been involved in the development of the cost cap, the idea was really to make sure that all the teams will either squeeze into a certain number or have a chance to actually hit that number.”
Nevertheless, the current modus operandi sees an inflation-adjusted increment in the operational costs within the cap, alongside the extra financial support for the trailing four teams.
“Whilst in principle it’s nice, currently we (Alpha Tauri) don’t have the money, so I have to try and find the money, the sponsorship,” Bayer shared.
Navigating this sudden change, he said, “It’s challenging, because you’re making a plan and you’re deciding on your investment and then suddenly, within six months, regulations change and you have to go back to your shareholders in my case, and that was not as pleasant as it might look.”
“We’ll deal with it, but that’s my opinion,” he rounded off.
