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FIA's single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis recently stated that the F1 cost cap has restricted teams from upgrading their cars mid-season, which affects the competition at the top of the grid.
Introduced in 2021, the cost cap in Formula 1 was meant to bring the grid closer by "capping" the expenditure of the teams at the top and allowing teams at the bottom to spend more. While this goal has, in part, been achieved by the cost cap, Tombazis pointed out a negative implication of the rule, saying (via Motorsport):
"The problem with the financial regulations is, on the one hand, they do mean that somebody can't spend three times more than somebody else, which is good."
"But on the other hand, they do also mean that if you're behind somebody, you can't just throw everything at it and make an upgrade."
Tombazis believes the cost cap restricts teams from bringing in major upgrades in the middle of the season, unlike previous F1 seasons. He added:
"In older times, some teams would occasionally start a season and be in a really quite bad place, because they would have maybe messed up the project or concept or whatever. They arrive and are humiliated for the first few races."
"I've been involved in such a situation, but then you just make a massive upgrade package for Barcelona for Canada or something, and you'd virtually redesign the whole car like crazy for three or four months and then be winning races during the season."
Talking about the competition amongst teams, Tombazis stated that if a team gets off to a bad start, they can find it difficult to recover in the middle of the campaign. He said:
"The [current] financial regulations limit the amount of upgrades you can do. So, if somebody is further back, the recovery can be quite long and painful."
Red Bull and Aston Martin became the first teams to breach the cap during the 2021 season. While the latter only had to pay a hefty fine, RBR was penalized with a 10% reduction in their wind tunnel time, which is essential for a car's aero development. That, however, did not seem to interrupt their progress as they went on to dominate the 2023 season.
How can the F1 cost cap affect the competition at the top of the grid?
An example of Tombazis' criticism of the F1 cost cap was observable in the 2023 season; despite knowing the issues with their car, Mercedes were unable to introduce substantial changes during the season.
A similar thing happened with Ferrari, as they could not significantly alter their chassis and design. This was one of the factors that made them hit the developmental ceiling, which was confirmed by Enrico Cardile (Ferrari's aero engineer) earlier.
While these two top teams struggled with their design, Red Bull comfortably dominated the grid in 2023, winning all but one race throughout the season.
