Concessions for the lowest F1 team?

Since Liberty Media complete the purchase of F1 in 2017, it pursued the clear goal of growing competitiveness on the track to increase its audiences. The ‘boom’ that has taken place in recent years around the world for F1 has exceeded all expectations, especially after the spectacular battle between Verstappen and Hamilton of 2021 and the popularity generated by the series of Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’which allows the stories of all the main characters to be identified and creates complicity and a closer relationship among all pilots and teams.

In turn, in 2022 a new technical regulation was introduced with more limited FIA main cars in their designs to avoid a big difference between small and large. There is also a concept based on the ground effect to reduce the polluted air emitted by the vehicles to encourage them to follow each other closely and compete more among themselves. Along with this came the budget ceiling, which established an annual spending limit for each team. (145 million dollars in 2021, from 140 in 2022 and 135 in 2023) something that ended the huge spending gap that existed between the most modest and teams like Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedeswho spent real millions.

To this is added the so-called aerodynamic ‘handicap’, where each team has a maximum time limited by the regulations. (and regulated in real time by the FIA) for the use of wind tunnel and CFD simulations for car development throughout the year. These times per team are determined by the classification in the Constructors’ World Championship, which gives more development time to the teams with the worst classification, and are updated at the start and halfway of the course.

However, on the track and off it there are still differences. The big teams like Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are still leading. Although it did see a surprising move for Aston Martin. However, the case of Aston Martin also makes it clear that there are still big disadvantages compared to the traditional large groups and those who want to join them: they do not have the same capacity of reaction and production of parts. because it has smaller infrastructure and machinery in its factories.

Aston Martin had 37% more wind tunnel time than Red Bull in the first half of the course. He also has quite a bit more time than Mercedes or Ferrari. however, The stars have built a half-new car three races earlier (they will take it to Imola) than Aston Martin took to reveal its biggest package of improvements (They took it in Canada). For its part, Ferrari presented its great package of evolutions in a recent appointment, in Barcelona. And the same thing that happens with Aston Martin, it happens with other teams in the middle of the table and at the back. Despite wanting to match the competition, they all have one drawback hidden within the walls of their headquarters that must be highlighted.

“Top teams invest for years without limit”

He reflected this in Mundo Deportivo the main representative of Alfa Romeo (Sauber) Alessandro Alunni Bravi.

“The regulation of 2022 is very positive and I think that over time convergence will come and a more equal competition between all the teams. Obviously the top teams are still on top. The important difference is not the budget that each group has (it is limited by the budget ceiling), but it is marked by the infrastructure. The top teams have been able to invest without any limits in the last 20 years, equipping themselves with the latest technology and facilities that, due to quantity and quality, cannot be compared to other teams”, argued Allunni Bravi to MD.

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Then MD asked Alunni Bravi if he believed that the FIA ​​would give concessions to invest freely in the lowest teams. “This is a very important point. The structural difference that currently exists between teams like us and the big teams is huge. If we really want to get to a point of creating opportunities for everyone to aspire to at least in the podiums, we have to end the difference in this structure between big and smallwhich allows the lowest group not to operate at the level of the previous year’s budget limit, to be able to invest resources not to surpass the big ones, but to make up that difference”.

Various factory areas are limited by budget

“Currently, these high-value investments are limited by regulation. This is something very important and it is the element that can create the most spectacle, allowing there to be not only 3 teams fighting for to the achievements and more,” he argued. And the problem is that there are some factory areas whose investments are within the annual budget ceiling. Not only points like the cost of developing the car in the same year or what the team spends on a race course. Also investments in various key areas are also involved in the development of the single-seater.

For example, Aston Martin is creating a new factory, a large headquarters, with an investment of 232 million euros. Logically, if this fell within the budget ceiling, they will not be able to build it because it will be exceeded. PBut speaking to an important person inside Aston Martin, MD learned that there are some elements of the new factory that the investment is within the budget limit, something where, for example, the Aston Martin team will launch its simulator in 2024 and not before.

In this field, Alunni Bravi makes it clear that Aston Martin, Alpine and McLaren are both in the same situation: “There are many departments within a team that we can invest in that are linked to performance, such as production, elements related to the search for aerodynamics, which are not only about the wind tunnel (limited by hours), but also the CFD simulation . There are many areas where the big top teams have invested over the years. The same thing happens with Aston Martin, or McLaren or even Renault. They said it publicly. We have a difference at the infrastructure level.”

clear proposition

“An important step can allow the teams to reduce this difference in infrastructure in 2026, and I say reduce it because it is not possible to cancel it at this point. That they allow us to make investments to reduce that window”he added, indicating that the issue is on the table.

What elements are you referring to?

“It’s all about infrastructure. Everything that is production machinery, the servers, the cloud (which stores information) for CFD, everything related to the performance of the car, limited by the budget ceiling. So what we want is to be able to invest in these areas.”added Italian to a very important subject also for Sauber, because before 2026 it will form a new partnership with Audia team that wants to be one of the greats and will need to make a big investment to do so.

“Possibly 6 or 7 are on track”

Despite this, Alunni Bravi considers that it is possible to find equality in the competition between 6 or 7 teams in the near future: “I think. Now there are 3 or 4 teams that can fight at the front, although Red Bull has shown in the early part of the season that it has a big advantage. But the championship is very long and we have an exciting fight between Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes. I think they will be closer throughout the year. All the teams are getting stronger and new manufacturers are coming in (such as Audi, who will partner with Sauber come 2026) which will allow teams like ours to improve their performance.”

“I imagine a more contested championship, open to more teams. In 2026 we will have 6 official bikers, all of them with many reference teams. This is a situation that will never be seen in F1, with great competitiveness and the entry of new constructors will lead to great progress in F1 and will also give many more teams the opportunity to fight at the top,” he concluded.