Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Mallett
Can you hear that noise? It's the sound of millions of sponsors beating their path to Williams, Haas and Racing Point. No thought not.
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Lol. Short term. Yes. There is no quick fix to their problems. Which is more than funding, but funding is part of it. I also can't fix the economy and impact of the pandemic. They may put in place a great solution for cost caps, and other things and still find nobody cares to provide money for teams like Williams, etc. Sad as that may be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Mallett
The point is if you don't have the budget to start with, you don't have anything to cap.
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So Mercedes has no budget? Small teams are likely to operate at or under the cap. The goal of caps is to pull down the budgets of the big teams. Is that not clear? See above about small teams sourcing ANY money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Mallett
The cost, not the budget, needs to be reduced dramatically so that there is no reliance on manufacturers. Failing that you and I can kiss goodbye to anything like a full grid of cars next year, or whenever this gets back up and running.
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A few points.
1. Agree about dire situation for next year.
2. Agree about reliance on manufactures. I am absolutely not a fan of manufacture run teams and the dependency upon them (which is actually two intertwined things)
3. You may disagree, but you feel that lowing cost will reduce budget. Unless you have a fixed spec in which ALL components have a fixed cost, the budget will be variable. It is an absolutely indisputable fact that teams will spend as much as they are given!
You can reduce cost of components (such as standardizing on various parts). Money will just be spent elsewhere. Now for teams who don't have the budget to cover their current minimum operating costs, you have a point. And for that, it gets back to simplification of common parts (and complex solutions) and I can agree with that.
We need to reduce cost for "mandatory spending" (what is the absolute minimum to get a car on the grid) and cap "discretionary spending" (everything done to make the car the best it can be). I think you are focusing on mandatory and I am focusing on discretionary. Both are important and the solutions people are talking about are more than just caps. It includes part standardization, more equitable distribution of money from FOM, etc.
Richard