Sauber still pushing for F1 costs shake-up

Ever since the collapse of Caterham at the end of last year, F1's less well-off teams have been pushing for sweeping costs cuts, and even the imposition of a budget cap, to help secure the future of the grid.

But those calls have been met with resistance from larger teams, who are adamant that costs are currently under control and regulations do not need changing much.

Fight goes on

Although wide-sweeping cost-cutting measures have not been supported by senior outfits, and the budget cap idea discussed again recently but dismissed, Sauber is adamant that things need changing.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: “We believe that certain aspects of the sport have to be readdressed.

“We feel on one side you have to simplify the technical regulations, which increases the competition as well. You have seen in the past that you have to be careful introducing changes, because until now technical rules have only caused more costs, and we can prove that with so many examples in the past.

“You also have to look at the technical side, and former FIA president Max Mosley had some interesting ideas on that - which was a cost cap and giving technical freedom under it.

“The other side of it all is the overall cost of F1; and what else you can do to bring it down. That is linked to the income of F1 and how you redistribute that income to have an equitable distribution.”

Commercial distribution

Although FIA president Jean Todt said recently that he was ready to look at the way F1's commercial revenue was distributed, Kaltenborn is well aware that the final say is with Bernie Ecclestone.

“The commercial rights holder [Ecclestone] is responsible for commercial dealings and what we have to make sure, like in other sports, is we have a healthy field together,” she said.

“If we compare ourselves to football, you don't have those discussions there. You have big clubs, and smaller ones – but nobody is suffering that much.

“The bigger clubs fully understand the need to keep smaller clubs in it, and you have distribution that allows everyone to live and be sustainable at a decent level.”