There is an aspect of “New F1”Which is dealt with in a marginal way and which, on closer inspection, is of crucial importance. We refer to the budget cap that from $ 145 million in 2021 will drop to $ 140 million in the season that kicks off in March.
A big problem if you think that, from a frame, mechanical and aerodynamic point of view, there will not be a line of continuity with the models that have walked the asphalt until a month ago. Except for the power unit and, in part, for broadcasts, the F1 of 2022 will be the children of a total conceptual rewrite. With the consequent increase in design and development costs.
Precisely the evolution of the models that we will begin to see from February could depend – indeed it will – on how the economic resources will be managed within each single team.. Those teams where the drivers create more damage with exuberant driving will be penalized. A ranking has recently been drawn up which has proved to be Mick Schumacher the driver who caused a greater tax burden to his team.
The son of art, in fact, weighed well on a budget 4,212,500 euros on the speakers of the Haas to which the more than two fruits of the unscrupulous driving at Nikita Mazepin. A bloodbath for the American team which at least had prepared a project devoted to savings to aim all economic and intellectual resources in view of the technical revolution that is becoming valid in these hours.
The track-development correlation was at the center of the reflections of Laurent Mekies, sporting director of the Ferrari. Looking at the data, it is clear that he is in second place in this painful ranking Charles Leclerc which, due to various accidents, generated over four million in expenses for the Maranello team (1.756.000 those attributable to Carlos Sainz, at). A ballast that could limit the ability to progress of a car that, like the others, will be at the zero year of evolution.
“There is less development money available during the season – explained the transalpine manager and engineer – because the overall budget has also shrunk. We will certainly see more updates than in the 2021 season, but fewer than in 2018 or 2019“.
In this key we read the need to explain to the pilots to manage the material available with more caution. A driving thrift that does not go well with the need to find the limit to maximize performance: “We encouraged our riders to test the limits – said the former manager SON – The competition between Carlos e Charles it helps us to move forward, but we must be cautious.“
2This year we had little development on the car and were therefore able to better manage accidents in terms of budget. Everything will be different in 2022: we need all the money for the development of the vehicle. The cars will certainly be more difficult to drive. It will depend a lot on how the rider adapts to them“.
It will not be easy to overcome this obstacle because the new single-seaters will be heavier and, consequently, unwieldy. And not knowing where it is Ferrari compared to the other teams, it makes the need to preserve money to invest in technical research even more pressing.
Yet Mekies: “There is no specific reference. At the start of the design, the loss of lap time was enormous. We have recovered a lot as the project has grown. But no one knows if that’s enough. We will put the car on the street a Barcelona hoping it will do what the simulations and the wind tunnel promise“.
In Ferrari they expect a very rapid evolution of the single-seaters. “After six weeks – believes Mekies – the gap between cars will be smaller and, by 2023, cars will be more or less the same. The window of what’s feasible is simply much smaller than it is today“.
The “New F1“, Therefore, it presents new challenges to overcome which it is necessary to reshape the operational management of both the team and the activity on the track. A crucial point for Maranello in that gradual path that must necessarily bring the historic and noble team back to the avant-garde positions.
Photo: Ferrari, F1
