Force India and Sauber's EU complaint

[bhall II]

Given we barely have any new teams (Haas is the first in 6 years) and grid count is dangerously low, the responsible thing to do would be invest.

However, with limits and condition. We don't want more moral hazards around.

All right. So, in what manner can that be accomplished such that it won't fall afoul of competition law? The teams in question have made it very clear that they consider dictated terms of agreement to be "unfair and unlawful."

[turbof1]

Given we barely have any new teams (Haas is the first in 6 years) and grid count is dangerously low, the responsible thing to do would be invest.

However, with limits and condition. We don't want more moral hazards around.

All right. So, in what manner can that be accomplished such that it won't fall afoul of competition law? The teams in question have made it very clear that they consider dictated terms of agreement to be "unfair and unlawful."

That requires a lot more information on the parameters of that inside market, as well as the current confidential contracts. I can only speak in general terms that the conditions have to be applied to protect everyone from abuse and reward after performance (and not on history), while also leaving the freedom to have supply and demand set the price.

In short: I do not know, only other then transparency. A lot more transparency.

[bhall II]

My guess is that assistance would have to come in the form of making loans available to every team. But to loan money to teams on the brink of insolvency is to engage in subprime lending, and I sincerely hope the world has learned its lesson on that one.

[TAG]

There's a lot of ways to make things even, implementing them is a different story. My preference has been to lean the budget cap route without really having to implement a budget cap. Say 250~300 million budget, and anything you spend over that is deducted from your premiums and prize money and divided among teams that stay under budget. Shooting from the hip here, just like Bernie, but I've been out drinking so I've got an excuse.

[Cold Fussion]

Just about everyone agrees that a budget cap set at some reasonable like you suggest would be beneficial to the health of F1, the problem is that it's completely utopian inasmuch it is completely unenforceable.

[hollus]

... My preference has been to lean the budget cap route without really having to implement a budget cap. Say 250~300 million budget, and anything you spend over that is deducted from your premiums and prize money and divided among teams that stay under budget...

TAG, the crazy idea you have described is successfully in place in the NBA since many years. From the wiki:

Luxury tax

While the soft cap allows teams to exceed the salary cap indefinitely by re-signing their own players using the "Larry Bird" family of exceptions, there are consequences for exceeding the cap by large amounts. A luxury tax payment is required of teams whose payroll exceeds a certain "tax level", determined by a complicated formula, and teams exceeding it are punished by being forced to pay bracket-based amounts for each dollar by which their payroll exceeds the tax level.

While most NBA teams hold contracts valued in excess of the salary cap, few teams have payrolls at luxury tax levels. The tax threshold in 2005–06 was $61.7 million. In 2005–06, the New York Knicks' payroll was $124 million, putting them $74.5 million above the salary cap, and $62.3 million above the tax line, which Knicks owner James Dolan paid to the league. Tax revenues are normally redistributed evenly among non-tax-paying teams, so there is often a several-million-dollar incentive to owners not to pay the luxury tax.

[bhall II]

The NBA also has significantly more control over its franchisees - like review and approval of all contracts - than anyone has ever had over F1 teams. (It's also non-profit.)

A sensible budget cap would definitely be ideal, but there's a greater chance I'll be crowned World Drivers' Champion in the next 30 minutes than there is of adequately policing the myriad transactions of multinational corporations.