The much vaunted F1 budget cap was debated for years and resisted by the bigger teams. Eventually the cartel of the big three- Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull agreed to slash their reported annual spending of around $400m to just $175m.

Then came Covid and with ten races cancelled in 2020, the teams agreed to a further cut to $145m which has been adjusted downwards since. The idea of a budget cap was to level the playing field for the smaller teams but it since has been proven that this isn’t working.

 

 

 

Alpine not even spending budget cap

Of course the excesses of the big three have been somewhat curbed but given a number of the back of the grid competitors are not spending up to the amount allowed, a performance discrepancy remains.

Red Bull were persuaded to eventually accept the financial restrictions following the collapse of their relationship with power unit supplier Renault and the Milton Keynes based were facing the reality of having no engine supplier for a while.

The FIA argued it was difficult for new manufacturers to join the sport given the eye watering cost of joining the exclusive F1 club and so there spending limits was eventually agreed and the levelling programme was set to begin.

Yet three years into the financial restrictions half the grid does not reach the budget cap limit which is preventing the Nirvana hoped for by the FIA. Having left Alpine, Otmar Schzafneur revealed on joining the French owned team in 2022, the cash available for racing was tens of millions below where the budget cap was set.

Verstappen ditched by title sponsor

 

 

 

Alpha Tauri big investment coming

Alpine punched above their weight in 2022 finishing fourth in constructors’ championship, but the real test of their ability to remain in the top four came last season. Following huge investment programmes both Aston Martin and McLaren surged ahead of the French outfit scoring more than double the points the French outfit was able to scramble together.

Behind Alpine were four teams who on paper were separated by handful of points but in reality have vary varied futures ahead of them.

Haas F1 are perennially short of cash and have even allegedly risked their drivers safety in years gone by, fitting sub standard brakes for the final few races of the year. Having ditched their team principal Gunther Steiner the team faces a massive upheaval this season and in all likelihood will finish bottom of the pile for a second consecutive season.

Alpha Tauri are moving most of their operations to England and will benefit from a much closer alliance with their big brother team Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull guru issues dire predictions over 2026 FIA regulations

 

 

 

Williams modernisation moves forward at pace

Williams too are moving forward as their investors are stumping up the cash to improve ageing facilities, machinery and production methodology.

This leaves Sauber who are 25% owned by Audi who will formally enter F1 in 2026. Audi are set to build their own power unit, though given the new regulations retain much of the V6 hybrid technology currently ion use, the German brand will start on the back foot having missed out on 12 years of building and running these power units.

Sauber are in a strange transitional phase having lost their named sponsor Alfa Romeo. They are now set to exist for two seasons as the rather convoluted ‘Stake F1 team Kick Sauber’ while the full buy out of the team by Audi trundles along.

The C43 Ferrari powered car produced in Hinwii Switzerland proved to be a grave disappointment for the team and its drivers. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu rarely troubled the points during the 2023 season and even struggled for the most part to get out of the first qualifying session.

Liberty could forfeit F1 rights says FIA president

 

 

 

Sauber reveals slower than intended Audi integration

Last week Sauber’s technical director James Key was quoted as saying it may be the end of 2026 before the Audi/Suaber integration is fully complete. This of course implies the team will not be competitive in terms of winning races or claiming pole positions and may even be the case that Sauber improve little between now and then.

There were rumours during 2023 that Audi were pulling the plug on their F1 project following the departure of Markus Duesmann who was replaced by Gernot Dollner as CEO and management board chairman four months ago.

The denials Audi were getting cold feet were minimal and the strangely titled Sauber “team representative” Alumni Bravi had few words to quell the speculation stating: 

“Audi has a strong commitment to Formula 1, together with Sauber. This commitment comes from a decision from not only the board of Audi but also the supervisory board of VW. It’s a group decision and the commitment is there.”

Horner criticises Mercedes F1 strategists

 

 

 

Will Sauber be cut adrift?

Bravi attempted to justify the lack of comment from Audi being due to the current relationship the Swiss team had with Alfa Romeo.

Swiss publication Auto Hebdo now reveals the German auto manufacturer has vastly underestimated the cost of joining the elite F1 racing club. The report continues suggesting that the investment in Sauber has to date been “insufficient” in part due to Audi’s ill educated guesstimates of the chassis development costs.

Entering Formula One requires the deepest pockets of any sports investor and even with an existing team the costs escalate exponentially. One of the reasons Andretti prefers to start from scratch is the integration with another poorly funded F1 outfit lacking in infrastructure can take longer and cost more than beginning with a blank piece of paper.

There is a concern amongst F1 observers that Haas F1 and Sauber could be cut adrift from the rest of the field. Further, should Audi fail to fulfil their commitment to buy Sauber, the long standing Swiss based team could even fold.

F1 team reveals disappointing numbers from 2024 simulation

 

 

 

Audi naivety over F1 project

In the heady days when F1 valuations were sky rocketing the likes of Audi and Porsche appeared desperate to get a piece of the action. Now with Porsche’s corporate approach rejected by Red Bull and Sauber left floundering with a lack of funds from Audi, the German based VAG group are left looking silly and with egg on their collective faces.

In many ways while teams like Aston Martin and McLaren have surged forward in terms of competitiveness, its little to do with the biuget cap and more about ambition and deep pockets full of investment dollars, something Audi appear loathed to deliver at this present time.

Audi should become the first new works team since Mercedes acquired Brawn back in 2009, but it appears they’ve a lot to learn from their fellow countrymen.

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