The World Motor Sport Council has ratified changes to Formula 1’s regulations that will include a budget cap from 2021, Autosport reports.
In an online vote on Wednesday, teams agreed for a cost cap of $145 million per season per team from 2021, down from the $175 million budget originally proposed. This budget cap will drop to $140 million for 2022 before falling to $135 million from 2023 and through the 2025 season.
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In addition to the budget cap, future events that could be closed to the public will have a limit of 80 team staff per race, of which only 60 can be associated with the operation of the cars.
For years, many teams have been pushing for a budget cap to level up the playing field and help the mid-tier teams compete with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown says the implementation of a budget cap is an important step forward for the premiere open-wheel raced series.
“Formula 1 wins today. This is a crucially important moment for our sport,” he said to Autosport. “F1 has been financially unsustainable for some time, and inaction would have risked the future of F1 and its participants, who are to be commended for resolving this issue collectively and determinedly.”
This year’s Formula 1 World Championship is tentatively scheduled to begin on July 5 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The following week, a second race will be held at the same circuit, while on July 19, the sport will head to Hungary. F1 will then move to Silverstone for a double-header on August 2 and August 9, before teams move to Spain for a race on August 16. Races in Belgium and Italy have been scheduled in for August 30 and September 6. The Asian and American legs of the season are still to be determined.
