“FIA, It’s James!”, James Vowles gets his wish as FIA change Formula 1 cost cap

Formula 1 has firmly entered the cost cap era. These rules, designed by the FIA and Formula 1, will hopefully bring the teams closer. However, the smaller teams were at a disadvantage because the spending restrictions on infrastructure meant they would always lag behind. Williams Boss James Vowles was the biggest voice in support of this. Now, the rules have changed. Bigger teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes aren’t happy.

The Edge by the Bigger Teams

James Vowles had pointed out how the bigger teams already had much better facilities from before the cost cap era. Formula 1 and the FIA had instituted a limit on CapEx (Capital Expenditure) as well.

The $135 million we see in the news are operational expenses (OpEx). The CapEx money is supposed to be used for rebuilding and updating infrastructure.

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Changes to the Rules

Firstly, Formula 1 and the FIA have given a supplement for inflation. This has taken the CapEx from $36 million to $45 million for 2021-2024.

Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes now have an additional $6 million for this period (on top of the $45 million). McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine have an additional $13 million. James Vowles’ Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, and Haas have an additional $20 million.

📰: Williams F1 boss James Vowles outlines 5-year plan for success, emphasizes need for culture change and infrastructure development. Acknowledges challenges in catching up with established teams. Culture shift and infrastructure improvements expected to yield performance gains… pic.twitter.com/avIMz5U6mW

— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) August 9, 2023

Moreover, the Formula 1 Constructor results from 2020, 2021, and 2022 will be taken into account for initializing the CapEx from next year. The subsequent 4-year period is from 2025 to 2029.

Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes get $42 million. McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine get $49 million. James Vowles’ Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, and Haas get $56 million.

After this, the caps will return to $36 million for everyone.

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What did James Vowles have to say?

James Vowles said, “Not perhaps the 100 [million] I was looking for, but a good step in the right direction. Good work with all the teams has meant that we’ve managed to unlock an exemption in our favour of 20 million or so. There’s quite a large amount of change that we need to do within Williams, I’ve been very clear and open about that.”