For those of you gnashing teeth and raging against this idea, though, do you actually enjoy seeing Mercedes (and to a slightly lesser extent, Ferrari) outspend everyone and buy half a decade of unchallenged success? I don't.
Is the money spend on the drivers also counted for in this budget?
That would be a huge blow for Merc and Ferrari, some 50 million less to development.
Suddenly there is more to win for the team to get an alternative driver, one that's just just as fast but for a fith of the money.
None of the drivers are in it for the money anyway.
To lesser extent? Ferrari is the team with the biggest budget in F1 right now due to funding from Ferrari itself and the higher prizes it receives from the FIA for finishing 2nd last year. Mercedes in second and Red Bull in third but these last two are closer together then they are to Ferrari in spending.
You need to read the article rather than just the title. It says that driver wages, engine costs, and marketing are not included in the cap. To me, that makes this nothing more than a worthless token gesture at best. The big teams will still have the best drivers due to their ability to pay obscene wages, and they'll still be the only ones that can spend anywhere near the cap amount. This won't help small and new teams compete at all, it'll just mean the big teams can't splurge as much and will have to target their spending slightly more than they currently do.Is the money spend on the drivers also counted for in this budget?
Sorry, I guess I was a bit unclear with that one. I meant a lesser extent in terms of success, not spending. They've had their moments of success in the hybrid era but nowhere near as much as Mercedes. (Obviously.)
You need to read the article rather than just the title. It says that driver wages, engine costs, and marketing are not included in the cap. To me, that makes this nothing more than a worthless token gesture at best. The big teams will still have the best drivers due to their ability to pay obscene wages, and they'll still be the only ones that can spend anywhere near the cap amount. This won't help small and new teams compete at all, it'll just mean the big teams can't splurge as much and will have to target their spending slightly more than they currently do.
In other words, the affect this will have on the track is literally zero. Well done F1 for letting the power of the big teams dictate proceedings once again.
I welcome this move. I have actually stopped watching F1 because it's always Hamilton, Bottas, Vettle.