Unafraid of Mercedes and Red Bull’s Deep Pockets, Alpine Fires a Stern Warning: “They’re Looking to Exploit…”

The budget cap debate caused a lot of commotion in the 2022 season. And now that we have entered the third year of the budget cap, teams will only be able to spend a total of $135 million for the entire process. But as things stand, we may not even have to wait for the season to start to witness the cost cap drama. Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal of Alpine, has already fired a stern warning to the team who can easily breach the spending limit.

To give some context, the regulation was introduced to level the playing field for all 10 teams. Many already operated on budgets that were below the cap, or they did not need to make considerable cuts, but the major three, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, in particular, needed to control their spending.

Teams like Alpine had a sadly all-too-rare advantage over the big three since they did not have to overhaul their workforce, at least not as radically. But the team’s principal, Szafnauer, believes that any advantage they once held has vanished, and the bigger outfits are actively seeking new members as they attempt to make their way around the regulations.

Szafnauer, in a conversation with Motorsport.com, said “I think when everyone’s the right size, you lose that little bit. I think what some of the other teams are now doing, the bigger teams, is they’re looking to exploit or have a better understanding of where there’s some loopholes or some organizational changes you can make to actually stuff more people under that budget cap.”

“And we’re not there yet.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton & George Russell’s Boss Gives His Two Cents on $30 Million F1 Driver Salary Cap: “Has Come Up As A Controversial Topic”

The Milton Keynes-based team and Aston Martin were found guilty of exceeding the budget cap. This is where the budget cap drama began. However, whilst Aston Martin only violated the procedural rules, Red Bull overspent $2.2 million and received penalties. And right now, the team boss of the Austrian outfit wants the strict F1 budget cap restrictions modified.

Christian Horner demands a revision in the budget cap guidelines

The Red Bull team had a fantastic season, winning two championships, but they had the budget cap controversy to deal with at the same time. In October, the Austrian teams were found guilty of exceeding the budget by $2.2 million, and the FIA fined them $7 million while also reducing their wind tunnel time by 10%. Ever since, the Austrian outfit has faced criticism.

After bearing the brunt of it all, Horner naturally wanted a change in the system. As per racingnews365, he said, “I think it’s a very, very complicated set of regulations. And of course, they will evolve. What I would like to see is less pressure beyond the cap moving forward.”

“[As a team] your biggest driver of costs are the technical and the sporting regs. If we put more emphasis into what those costs and how those costs are driven, by those regulations, it will in turn put less stress on the cap.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Christian Horner Unhappy with 2022 Budget Cap, Calls for Urgent Attention

The teams may be more cautious following Red Bull’s punishment for violating the budget cap. With that said, do you think that the rigidity will cause the team to perform poorly? And will the top team face competition from the mid-table ones this time around?