Are the reductions in speed of the top team Red Bull Racing, like the dominant Mercedes AMG F1 team before them, due to the principle of budgetary limitation introduced into the sport a few years ago?
Last year, the steamroller from Milton Keynes won 21 of the 22 rounds of the world championship, a unique event in history.
Such results have generated several tens of millions of dollars in prize money and yet Red Bull’s performances have been in free fall for several months.
An explanation for this leveling: the budget cap prevents the world champions from spending more money than the competition to preserve their lead.
Rectifying domination by regulation
“We live with cycles, that of Red Bull followed that of Mercedes and before that of Ferrari, notes F1 promoter Stefano Domenicali. People who win every time try to say it’s unique, because if there are too many, it becomes too predictable to the detriment of the quality of the show.”
“It is important to maintain the focus on the sporting action on the track, insists the Italian manager. We go through years where we have a dominant team and a dominant driver without affecting the nature of the sport because that’s something we’re trying to rectify with the regulations.”
More competitive teams
“Not in a fake way, but in the fair way we make the competition tighter without affecting the rules, he assures. For example, the introduction of the budget cap is starting to pay off by limiting development spending, allowing more teams to be more competitive.”
“A new economic model that works, he concludes. Before, the teams spent lavishly to the point of going bankrupt while the cap budget has cleaned up finances and valued the teams like never before.”
