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The 10 Formula 1 teams approved, along with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and Liberty Media, the owner of the business, on Friday a severe package of measures that will limit the budget ceiling of each team to $ 145 million, 30 less than stipulated so far. The new rules, which also include a limitation on the aerodynamic development of cars, will take effect from 2021 and will be ratified next week by the FIA ​​World Council.

Ferrari has managed to impose its judgment on its opponents on the grid, given that this cap of 145 million is much higher than the 100 million that McLaren claimed, established as the leader of the modest teams, or the 120 million that the FIA ​​had requested. In any case, the final figure, leaked a few weeks ago by Ross Brawn , technical director of Formula 1, will be lowered to 140 million in 2022 and 135 million in 2023.

This budget limit will be applied, fundamentally, to everything related to track activity, but it will not include the salaries of the pilots, nor the costs of marketing and engine manufacturing, nor the three highest contracts of the technical staff of each team.

Tighten the belt

According to the data of the 2019 World Cup, six teams on the grid (Renault, AlphaTauri, Haas, Alfa Romeo, Williams and Racing Point) did not reach the 145 million established now in their budget. And only Renault, with 137 million, would be affected by the new cap planned for 2023. Therefore, it is clear that this snip will essentially affect Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren.

The Scuderia and the Silver Arrows top the spending chart, at $ 240 million and $ 210 million, respectively, followed by Red Bull at $ 160 million, thanks to their free agreement on their Honda engines. So the three most powerful sets of the last decade will have to tighten their belts to reach the stipulated 145.

If we put the pre-season tests in Barcelona on the table, Ferrari does not have a car this year to discuss the overwhelming dominance of Mercedes. So the cut would make the possibilities of technological development of its car extremely difficult also in the 2021 World Cup, the first of Carlos Sainz with Scuderia .

Tug of war

During tense negotiations, Mattia Binotto warned that a cut below 150 million would lead to hundreds of layoffs at his Maranello factory. Likewise, the head of Ferrari accepted the reduction of aerodynamic development in 2020 and 2021 and the postponement until 2022 of the new regulation.

In return, Ferrari achieved a small victory by achieving a greater margin of expenditure on the parts that it normally supplies to Haas and Alfa Romeo. The design and manufacture of this material, as is the case between Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, will be quantified and then discounted from the budget ceiling.

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