PhillipM wrote: ↑04 Aug 2021, 02:38
That's pointless, the smaller teams still have to find the 5 mil from somewhere.
Why? It is no different for any of the teams. Take Haas. They had 120mln in 2020. If they have the same now, any cracked wing or broken chassis as a result of Mazespins and Schumachers in the wall will cost them the same way as in 2020.
With this reservation principle, the 'within the budget solution' means the have to make reservation for the suggested 5 mln. The remaining 115 mln is for usual F1 business. They would have done the same or similar in 2020.
However, Red Bull that intends to spend the entire 2021 budget on making the championship worth watching may have planned to spend e.g. 144 mln on car and development. The current damage count exceeds that reservation of 1 mln (total is 145mln) and the cap prevents them to solve this. So they moan. Forcing them to make a 5 mln reservation within the cap and use a regular budget of 140 mln initially would have stopped them from moaning.
At the end of the season a team can use that reservation again for the next one. So, if they did not need it, next years' budget can theoretically increase with 5 mln (as long as they stay within the budget cap). You could also imagine something like 50% of that 'repair budget' becoming available after 3/4 of the running season. So you can spend that 50% as if it were regular budget for 25% of the races to introduce new parts.
Don't forget that the cap drops to $135 mln in 2023. Most backmarker teams are already close to that number. So, in two years time there is not much of a difference in regular budgets between teams.
In addition, engine costs are excluded from the cap. If it wasn't for the penalty for a fourth one, I do not think RB and Fer would have worried about that. It is the chassis damage that hurts.