F1 Cost Cap Means Jobs at Risk

According to the F1 team bosses, the sport must tread carefully with regard to the cost cap plans. They say that it will pose a risk to jobs in Formula 1.

F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media wishes to impose a cap of $150m (£112m) a year on teams from 2021 onwards.

The top 3 teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all spend about double the imposed cap. In addition to that, they employ up to 1,000 people each.

“In the UK, you are talking about potentially thousands of jobs,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

“If a local car plant or supermarket shuts, it makes the headline news. A social responsibility needs to be taken into account when talking about restrictions and caps. It doesn’t sit well when drivers can earn up to $50m (£37m) a year.

“The whole thing needs to be looked at quite carefully. The FIA [F1’s governing body] and Liberty are aware of that. Our biggest cost drivers are regulations, sporting and technical. There is a responsibility that needs to be given serious consideration as to how these changes are implemented.”

Some predict that at least five F1 teams would be forced to cut back on staff to meet the budget cap.

However, that can be combatted by reallocating personnel to roles within their other companies.

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said: “This was a good point where Liberty recognised that a cost cap cannot be an event but needs to be a process over several years and consider the structures that have been put in place and they are taking our feedback on board. It is clear we will all be protecting our structures and we expressed that [in the meeting].”

The Austrian continued, “I see some common sense on the table. There are still areas where we are very far away but it is moving forward in a constructive, structured process.”