Renault not in favour of two-tier cap

Michelle Foster
Cyril-Abiteboul-looking-serious-PA

Cyril-Abiteboul-looking-serious-PA

Renault will not support a proposal for a two-tier budget cap or one that comes with a sliding scale, says Cyril Abiteboul.

Although the Formula 1 teams have all agreed to lower the 2021 budget cap to $150 million, there is talk of dropping it even further.

With teams fearing for their survival, some want it as a low as $100m.

This led to suggestions of a two-tier cap or one that comes with a sliding scale that would allow the teams that develop parts, such as suspensions that are then sold onto other teams, to have more to spend than those buying said parts.

There is also talk of including drivers’ salaries in the cap and engines. Both currently fall on the exclusion list.

“The ceiling is completely under discussion,” Abiteboul told Auto Hebdo, “however, I think we have to be careful not to question everything.

“We are in favour of simple things, namely only changing the limit.

“Starting to imagine different ceilings depending on whether you are a constructor, engine manufacturer, or client, these are complicated things and are not necessary.

“All this has already been provided for in the financial regulations. You just have to implement it and finish the job.”

As for talk of drivers’ salaries being capped at a time when the likes of Renault’s own Daniel Ricciardo is believed to be earning $40m, Abiteboul reckons that should be on the table for future talks.

“This crisis has created favourable circumstances for other measures on which we have been collectively procrastinating so far,” he added.

“In these times when everyone is going to have to tighten their belts, this seems to me to be an audible, even necessary, message.

“If the top teams have to make hundreds of layoffs in the light of the budget cap and we continue to pay the drivers several tens of millions per year, I find that there is something that does not stick.”

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