F1 News
Liberty Media think budget cap "pretty much accepted" by F1 teams
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has revealed that Formula 1 teams are now relatively close to accepting a budget cap system in the sport, as the American claims "huge progress" has been made in the effort to install the cap.
The new owners of F1 have pushed the agenda of introducing a budget cap in 2021 for a long time, as the current disparity in budgets between the likes of Mercedes and a team like Haas F1 is monumental - hundreds of millions.
“I think that huge progress has been made,” Greg Maffei was quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Sure there are issues to be debated. F1 has talked about putting cost caps in for 15 years or more, and when we first started out, Chase [Carey] and his team, about putting a cost cap in F1, people scoffed.
“I think if you go and speak, and many of you investors do, to other teams, on what the scuttlebutt is out there, the cost cap is pretty much accepted.
"We’re tens of millions apart, not hundreds. And how the splits will work, people are arguing.”
The signature of a new Concorde has been long awaited, and although the teams are agreeing on the goal of F1 as a sport for 2021, there are still some creases to be ironed out.
“In general, the theory is that we are trying to create more race competition, more on-track passing or overtaking, more balanced spending with cost caps, more balanced payouts, which are not quite as favourable for some of the traditional players, but instead more favourable for the winners, and we’re also not too far behind on those not in the top of the stack.
“All those things are generally accepted. We are moving towards some sort of a conclusion. What will be the catalytic event that brings it to a signing is perhaps less clear, but I think generally a good direction.”