Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto is frustrated over the F1 budget cap enforced by the FIA.
The budget cap enforced this season has not been well-received by some teams, and at the forefront of that camp are Ferrari and Red Bull. The Prancing Horse suffered a damaged car in Budapest, and the budget cap means they are losing a lot of money relative to their budget.
Binotto recently talked about the budget cap, and suggested some changes to the rules. In it, he talked about the possibility of other teams paying for damages they cause. It was disregarded, but he hasn’t backed down.
With Leclerc suffering a damaged engine, they would have to change their chassis. The FIA allows three chassis changes only throughout the season, and if they change the engine, they will have to take a grid penalty.
“If you replace it (the engine), you build in something new, not something with the same mileage and the same service life. So it’s complicated,” Binotto said.
“There is talk of a further reduction in 2025, from three engines to two (per season), and it is clear that the fewer engines there are, the more important the issue.”
“We will be discussing with all the other teams and with the FIA because this is certainly a topical issue that has been raised from various quarters and therefore deserves to be investigated. But I don’t think there is an easy solution,” he said.
Second wind
Binotto, however, assured that Ferrari would upgrade their chassis. He spoke about the upcoming boosts to the car for the second half of the season.
“We will bring a power unit development. To clarify the regulations for 2021, you may have a brand new power unit in 2021,” Binotto said.
“It means you can bring an update in all components of the power unit–the ICE, turbo, MGU-H, batteries, MGU-K, etc.,” he concluded.
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