CHRISTIAN HORNER CALLS FOR F1 BUDGET CAP RETHINK: "TEAMS ARE SPENDING $500 OR $600M"

Christian Horner wants the $215 million budget cap blown up and rebuilt. Teams are actually burning through $500 to $600 million annually because the cap excludes driver salaries, the top three non-driver earners, travel, and marketing. Squeeze one end of the balloon, the air moves elsewhere—driver contracts have ballooned post-cap, proof the money shifted rather than disappeared.

Horner, whose Red Bull caught a $7 million fine for breaching the 2021 cap by five percent, insists more spending should fall under the limit. Williams shares the diagnosis but not the remedy. The cap favors Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari—they built world-class factories before 2021, so their $215 million goes straight to the car. Williams is still paying for infrastructure from the same bucket.

The cap killed the warehouse full of unused parts Horner describes, and no team has folded since 2018. Whether F1 raises the number or broadens what counts, the current system needs a rewrite.