Today I decided to discuss a subject that has really interested me lately and that is motorsport; formula 1 to be more exact. For those of you who don’t know what this is about, let me give you an introduction to this incredible world of racing.
Formula 1 is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the FIA ( Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). This form of racing has taken place since 1950. The word formula refers to the set of rules which all the participants' cars must follow. The races take place in multiple continents and are known as Grands Prix. This race, as any other competitive sport, has a point-system which determines two annual World Championships: The Drivers Championship (each driver has a position in this championship) and The Constructors Championship (each team has a position in this championship).
Now, let me tell you about the teams and the drivers of each of them. Keep in mind that in f1 there are 10 teams with 2 drivers each. I will present them, in no specific order.
The first team is my favourite team, Ferrari. For Ferrari we have drivers: Charles Leclerc (number 16) and his teammate Carlos Sainz (a Spaniard with number 55).
Next, we have the RedBull team, which is probably the most well known team of all, because of their best driver, Max Verstappen, and his teammate Sergio Perez, known as Checo in f1.
Next up, we have Mercedes, whose drivers are Lewis Hamilton and George Russel, both of whom are british.
Then we have the McLaren team, which has two young drivers, the British Lando Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri.
After them, we have the not very popular teams, RB which is the second team of RedBull with Yuki Tsunoda (japanese) and Daniel Ricciardo (australian), Aston Martin with Fernando Alonso (spanish) and Lance Stroll (canadian), Haas with Nico Hülkenberg (german) and Kevin Magnussen (danish), Alpine with Pierre Gasly (french) and Esteban Ocon (french), Williams with Alex Albon (thai) and Logan Sargent (american) and Kick Sauber with Zhou Guanyu (chinese) and Valtteri Bottas (finnish).
Good, now let’s discuss the economy part of formula 1. The most important thing that you need to know is that from 2021 the FIA added a budget cap. A budget cap is a limitation on the budget the teams can use for making their cars.
You may wonder, why was this rule necessary? Well, in the past, the most successful teams were the ones that had the biggest amount to spend. So, the FIA wanted to change this aspect of the sport, in order to offer the smaller teams a chance in winning as well.
The budget for the 2024 season is 140.4 million dollars, which should be used throughout all 24 races. The main goal of the budget cap is to limit the financial resources that the teams use for specific aspects, such as aerodynamic development, tunnel testing and other performance-related costs.
However they can still use any amount of money on drivers salaries, marketing and other non-performance-related expenses. The FIA also apply significant penalties if the teams do not follow the rule.
In my opinion, the FIA made the right call with this budget cap, because in this way all the teams can have an equal chance in the fight for the World Championships.
Bibliography:
Formula One - Wikipedia
2024 F1 Budget Cap
2021 F1 Budget Cap
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