Cost cap row: Wolff rejects Vowles plan – and warns the cap is suppressing salaries
Williams boss Vowles wants teams lower in the standings to be allowed a bigger budget. Mercedes chief Wolff is sceptical but sees another problem: the cap is holding salaries down.
Archive image · Photo: Wf1fan / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Formula 1 is arguing over a reform of the cost cap. Williams team principal James Vowles is proposing, according to Motorsport Week, that teams further down the constructors' standings be allowed to spend more than the top teams – similar to wind tunnel time, of which weaker teams already get more. He needs six teams to pass a change in the F1 Commission. Alpine, Aston Martin, Audi and Cadillac are reportedly in favour, McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes against; Haas and Racing Bulls are seen as undecided.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was sceptical. "BoP for me is like a red mist," he said, according to RacingNews365, referring to balance of performance. He was not sure another mechanism tied to championship position was wanted and warned against undoing rules that were consciously changed a year or two ago. "A smaller team is not going to be happy about us having five million more in the cost cap to spend for PhDs," Wolff said, while expressing sympathy for Williams.
Wolff sees a different problem: the cap is "suppressing salaries", which remain below those at tech companies, hedge funds or investment banks. According to GPFans, he would like more room in the cap for lower salaries, a separate bracket, "rather than buying new front wings". Vowles hopes a change can take effect before the new engine regulations, Motorsport Week reports.