Anger at Force India after the announcement of the abandonment of capped budgets

The Force India team delivered a strong performance this weekend in Bahrain with a third place for Sergio Pérez and a fifth place for Nico Hülkenberg. These good results will be valuable in the constructors’ standings for this budget-constrained team, which has long been advocating for cost reduction in Formula One.

Unfortunately for Force India, FIA President Jean Todt announced this week the abandonment of budget caps for next season. A disappointment for Bob Fernley, the director of the Indian team, who expressed himself today in the columns of the Guardian: “I am disappointed but we must continue to put pressure so that this rule comes into effect one day. With the show offered in Bahrain, Force India proved that it was not necessary to continue spending money to provide a good show. This race is proof that the show in Formula One can be fantastic.”

If the limitation of budgets is not introduced next season, cost reduction could still be implemented through technical regulations by limiting certain expense areas. Asked about this, Bob Fernley believes that both avenues should be used: « You need both. You need a limitation (of budgets), but you also need expenditure control. I don’t believe we will change our stance on this subject; we must ensure that teams are financially healthy to secure the future of this sport. »

Force India will certainly have a hard time making its voice heard to bring about this change. The Indian team is not part of the Strategy Group, which includes representatives from Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams, McLaren, and Lotus, and has a strong influence on regulation changes. For Bob Fernley: This shows the fragility of the system as it is designed today. It is totally unacceptable, and we will never change our minds about it. You cannot strengthen and enrich the strong teams to the detriment of the other teams and expect them to be satisfied in return. We will stick to our line, we will not back down on any point. We have tried to be constructive in our criticism, and we will continue in this direction.