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Budgets for the Formula 1 teams for 2018

Published on 19 Mar 2018 17:15
11
By: Fergal Walsh

How much a team spends throughout a Formula 1 season can have drastic effects come the conclusion of the year. Car development has proven to be a key aspect throughout the calendar, with Red Bull proving last year how much time can be gained across nine months.

The amount of money that goes into Formula 1 has multiplied throughout the history of the sport. John Cooper, the founder of Cooper Grand Prix, once said: "In the sixties, our budget was less than $100,000 and that was sufficient for the world title."

In 1983, Alfa Romeo paid $5 million for its own factory team and now pays triple that figure to be Sauber's title sponsor in 2018. The budgets and costs rose throughout the 80's and 90's, and before long the likes of Ferrari and McLaren were dishing out around €200 million before the turn of the century.

Below you can see the budgets of the teams for the upcoming season, compiled by Auto Bild.

Mercedes	Approx. €450 million
Ferrari	Approx. €430 million
Red Bull	Approx. €350 million
McLaren	Approx. €250 million
Renault	Approx. €200 million
Sauber	Approx. €135 million
Williams	Approx. €135 million
Toro Rosso	Approx. €125 million
Haas	Approx. €110 million
Force India	Approx. €110 million

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

Can we take a moment to appreciate that STR and Haas both had so low budgets, yet managed to do so well under testing?

1
Mar 19 2018 - 17:46

F1 News Ferrari Renault Mercedes Sauber Williams McLaren Force India

Replies (11)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Can we take a moment to appreciate that STR and Haas both had so low budgets, yet managed to do so well under testing?
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- Mar 19 2018 - 17:46
Kean

Posts: 692
I say put the budget cap somewhere around 250 million
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- Mar 19 2018 - 19:40
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I dont know, I find it a tad too low. Make it 300M and the big wigs shouldnt have anything to complain about. Shouldnt. They still will.
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  Mar 19 2018 - 19:52
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I agree in principle, but it's not practical at all. There is no way it could be properly enforced. Especially for works teams like Mercedes, who are part of an even larger company, with multiple balance sheets. I don't think it's bad the richest are winning more, there should be a correlation between investment and reward. However, it's about minimizing the gaps to the point were we don't have a severely tiered sport. I think changing technical regulations would be far more effective.
  + 0
  
  Mar 19 2018 - 20:35
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I agree, however remember that Ferrari and the likes, and even some customer teams, will be more prone to prevent technical regulations from getting clubbed. Budget restrictions are more likely to garner favour among the customer teams, and a reasonably high roof could very well garner favour among some of the more wealthy teams to boot. Looking at the charts, there are two teams that are truly in favour of having no roof: Mercedes and Ferrari. And Arguably Red Bull, but they too seem willing to have some kind of restriction... As long as it doesnt hurt their spending.
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  Mar 19 2018 - 22:14
Major Tom

Posts: 152
You can see why Ferrari are in such a tissy. The proposed £150 million cap would mean a complete rethinking and restructuring their operation and would be massively disruptive putting them at an even greater disadvantage. I think that the cap, what ever it is, has got to be applied progressively to the top teams over a number of years.
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- Mar 19 2018 - 20:16
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  150M as a hardcap isnt really a sound idea. F1 isnt a low cost sport, nor should it be. We should have a hardcap, that much is sure, but 150M? No. I find KEAN's 250M or my 300M more realistic. That way, the bigwigs can still spend big if they want to. However, in return, there could be something in it for teams that are more efficient in their spending. What that something should be... Not decided on that yet!
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  Mar 19 2018 - 22:17
- krommenaas
  
  Posts: 155
  A budget cap is unenforceable, unfortunately. If you have any idea how it could be enforced, do share. But arguing about how high this unenforceable cap should be is pointless at the moment.
  + 1
  
  Mar 20 2018 - 09:40
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  In theory it isnt. It will be hard, but it isnt impossible. Of course, it'll require work and effort on behalf of the FIA, something they dont really seem to want to put in.
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  Mar 20 2018 - 18:19
juju_hound

Posts: 180
There are the heroes for me
Toro Rosso Approx. €125 million
Haas Approx. €110 million
Force India Approx. €110 million
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- Mar 20 2018 - 08:04
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  With an alleged return of 150USD millions, Force India could be one of the very few with good net profit percentage.
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  Mar 20 2018 - 21:05