It has become apparent that the automobile manufacturers that compete in the Formula One Championship will be hurt by the new price cap proposal.  Ferrari and now BMW have expressed that they are not happy with the drastic price cut and would much rather see a gradual plan to reduce costs.  Currently the price cap has been around three times less than what teams are currently spending.

I fear that with manufacturers like Ferrari, BMW and possibly Toyota and McLaren Mercedes will be out of the F1 Championship all together leaving the championship to be raced all by private teams.  This does not do well for marketing from a automotive manufacturer point of view.  It may work for advertising but gone will be the slogan, “race on Sunday and sell on Monday”.  The FIA say that they can live without Ferrari but they would take a hit.  Now that BMW are in the mix, I’m sure that hit will be a little harder to the sport and to the fans.

I still agree that this is a good step forward for smaller teams.  However, if you are a Formula 1 giant, this just doesn’t make sense.  Especially for teams that have been in F1 for several decades.  Soon, I fear that we will only see customer cars out on the track and no manufacturers.  I also think that the FIA need to come up with a standardized rule for the sport as a whole and not have it be multi-tiered.  As it is proposed right now, there are different regulations if you are above or below the 40-million-pound budget.  Go with one or the other, but not both in the same series.  Otherwise, there should be different championships.