2021 Cost Cap Rumours and Speculation

[VacuousFlamboyant]

No and the cost cap is going to be $5m less in 2023

They can however stockpile supplies!

I don't think they can to have "free" supplies as such. The rules about Unused inventory only applies to the "Current Car".

Amendment to the definition of "Current Cars":
"Current Cars" means cars which were designed and built in order to comply with the Technical Regulations either in force during the applicable Reporting Period or in force during the Championship season immediately following the applicable Reporting Period.

So, if as Marko says, it is about sick pay, does that mean that the other 9 teams underspent, and was this due to advice from FIA? this has many aspects here.

Sick pay is exempt from the cost cap, but there are limits as to how much can be deduct from the cost cap:

(III) The maximum amount that an F1 Team may deduct in a Full Year Reporting Period pursuant to this sub-paragraph (e) shall not, when aggregated with all such amounts deducted in prior Full Year Reporting Periods exceed a cumulative total of US Dollars 55,000,000, adjusted (if applicable) for Indexation.

(y) All costs of Consideration other than Employee Termination Benefits (together with associated employer’s social security contributions) provided to a Reassigned Employee prior to the date on which they became a Reassigned Employee, subject to a maximum aggregate amount of US Dollars 6,000,000, adjusted (if applicable) for Indexation.

[RZS10]

[...]
Is paragraph V effectively saying you can bring in another employee, the costs of cover are excluded?

As long as the replacement does not earn more, if less you could exclude only the lower salary (?)

I'd say your interpretation is correct for all of them, U is essentially excluding paid paternity/maternity leave IF it would get paid to everyone within the group (team wide policy).

So if im right in putting that into practice.....You could have 25 employees off with long term covid (example) and you draft in 25 extra heads from another area of the business that is outside the cap. The person off sick still gets their pay (or they could even be put on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and you can bring in another worker with equally or marginally less talent, to cover for their role and the salary for that work is excluded under the cap, providing it does not go over the salary of the person off sick.

Sounds like it?

The "equal or marginally less talent" part is likely important - but that's probably also covered by the articles regarding fair value or however it's worded exactly, so you couldn't replace someone with another person you pay less but who would in theory bring more to the table.

I just somehow doubt the points of contention are something we can make sense of

[cundi]

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/146904/e ... ction.html

[Mosin123]

Surely sick pay, Maternity pay and so on wouldnt take so long to sort out... it has been nearly a week, that should be so easy to prove, shouldnt take the fia long to verify.

If you was off sick, you get a doctors note ( Unless you are off for a short period eg a few days ) Maternity, you get a peice of paper from your midwife + doctor + even from DWP and ofc a baby as proof

The Neway thing seems far more likely imho

[Just_a_fan]

Is Red Bull allowed to carryover this years remaining budget to next year?

Max is already champion, you would assume they will be avoiding major upgrades.

No. Cheat this year and you benefit next year from the information but you can't take money over.

[langedweil]

It'll be like parking fines.
People struggling with money can be crippled by them.

People with large enough budgets will just park precisely wherever they feel because the penalty is far outweighed by the convenience of parking where they want, when they want, for however long they want.

That should never be a thing in F1.

Well, it has been the thing for like, 50 yrs ?
Heck, Ferrari tested nearly unlimited on their Fiorano track in the late 90's .. they could even simulate wet racing.
Merc have been outspending anyone, eapecially in last decade. In 2019 for instance their budget was around 484m, 20 more than Fer, 40 more than RB, 110 more than Ren, and a whopping 350m (!) more than Williams.
So basically, it's always been a thing ..

[Big Tea]

Is Red Bull allowed to carryover this years remaining budget to next year?

Max is already champion, you would assume they will be avoiding major upgrades.

No. Cheat this year and you benefit next year from the information but you can't take money over.

But you can take knowledge over. Do the design and model this year, actually create the part next year.
Still a huge cost saving.

[Just_a_fan]

Is Red Bull allowed to carryover this years remaining budget to next year?

Max is already champion, you would assume they will be avoiding major upgrades.

No. Cheat this year and you benefit next year from the information but you can't take money over.

But you can take knowledge over. Do the design and model this year, actually create the part next year.
Still a huge cost saving.

Oh yeah, it's a carry over benefit all right. It's a no-brainer as some Red Bull fans have made abundantly clear earlier in this thread. Cheating is good because the punishment is smaller than the benefit that accrues from the crime. It's the Red Bull way. Yay.

[Wil992]

Is there any indication at the moment what the timescale may be? I haven’t been able to find anything. Anyone heard anything about what happens next and when?

[chrisc90]

[mwillems]

Yeah, that's called trying to apply pressure to get an outcome that probably won't happen. It is a reference point to go back to in further arguments with the FIA and a rallying call to the other teams as well as an attempt to apply pressure.

I'm sure other teams have done the same but Zak feels that he wants to make this as transparent as possible.

It is interesting to note he does not suggest anything affecting this or last years results, just a fine double the overspend, the same amount removed from next years budget and a 20% reduction in CFD and Wind Tunnel time.

He's been extremely reasonable in my opinion, although he does say that £2m is 25-50% of teams development budget, so perhaps it is not so reasonable.

[dans79]

At this point I think I've seen every team principle from the front half of the grid, and most of the drivers from the front half sayin they need to feel the pain (paraphrasing)! Imo, they need to keep the pressure on and keep it in the public eye if they want anything to happen!

[Big Tea]

TBH, apart from having an entry in history books, even excluding them from the season will have little practical effect.

Any benefit derived from the finishing position other than points payment, has already been collected and most will still remember what they remember.
Losing Max title would be bad for him, but he still knows what he did, as does everyone else, from which ever point of view they already have.

I would not like to see them excluded, but they have no finance problems, and what else would they actually loose?

[kalinka]

Applying pressure ? Just reverse the roles : Zak Brown <> Horner. Imagine what shitstorm would come out of Horner's mouth in the same situation. Zak is as polite as he can be.

[Just_a_fan]

Yeah, that's called trying to apply pressure to get an outcome that probably won't happen. It is a reference point to go back to in further arguments with the FIA and a rallying call to the other teams as well as an attempt to apply pressure.

I'm sure other teams have done the same but Zak feels that he wants to make this as transparent as possible.

It is interesting to note he does not suggest anything affecting this or last years results, just a fine double the overspend, the same amount removed from next years budget and a 20% reduction in CFD and Wind Tunnel time.

He's been extremely reasonable in my opinion, although he does say that £2m is 25-50% of teams development budget, so perhaps it is not so reasonable.

I don't think his proposals are unreasonable. As for the development money, they've already had their development, effectively, because that's what an overspend does - allow you to get further along the car's development path than your competitors have because they followed the rules.

Even if it's considered a bit unreasonable in terms of the amount of punishment, if the FIA wants the budget cap to be a real thing, they have to make an example of Red Bull. If not and, for example, they just give them a fine, then the rich teams will just say "fine, we can afford a fine" and they'll do a "minor breach" too. That undermines the budget cap because the whole purpose of it is to bring the top teams back towards the midfield by preventing them from spending their way to victories that the mid- and rear-field teams can't hope to compete with.

The FIA's actions determine whether there is a budget cap next year and in future years. It's that simple.