The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) will introduce in 2015 a budget limit for teams in Formula One.
The international motorsport federation took this decision in December 2013 in Paris (France) to set a limit to the spending of money in the F1 racing series. Now, the need is greater than ever, since various teams in Formula One are making a loss and in some cases, these teams are not even able to pay their drivers, other crew members and their suppliers.
It is certainly not the first time that the FIA suggests a budget limit: four years ago the motorsport federation also wanted to limit the costs, but the F1 teams protested against it and even threatened to leave F1 and start their own series. Back then, a compromise was reached between the FIA and the teams, who had to promise to come up with cost-cutting measures.
According to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the measures of the Formula One teams sorted little to no effect and that is why the federation now decided to introduce a budget limit of 45 million Euros in 2015. However, there is still a lot unknown, such as which costs are included in the budget limit and which costs are not included. It is also not known how the FIA will check the budgets of the F1 teams. A special task force will be formed, which also will include representatives of the Formula One teams, to advice on these matters. The FIA aims to have the regulation regarding the 2015 budget limit ready by the end of June 2014.
Costs in Formula One
It is not cheap to run a Formula One team: travel and transport during a F1 season cost approximately 3 million US dollars, the costs of material and fuel are around $5,000,000, while a Formula One team pays a driver per season between 5 to 20 million US dollars. World champions like Fernando Alonso and Sebestian Vettel earn salaries that are even higher than that.
The engine of an F1 car also has a high cost: Spending about 13.1 million US dollars per season is a realistic estimate.
