Formula 1 rescue package: The calculation just works out

Y now everyone just has to survive. The FIA's rescue package won't heal all wounds for 2020, but it will help Formula 1 teams bridge the gap until 2021. And when this hurdle is over and the money flows normally again next year, the teams can get back the money in 2021 that they will lose this year Season. If Formula 1 manages 15 more races, at least the TV money and the payments from the series and track sponsors will flow. The entry fees and the Paddock Club are missing.

Stefan Baldauf

McLaren and Williams were badly shaken by the crisis.

Short-time working only helps to a limited extent

According to calculations by the teams, this corresponds to 60 to 65 percent of the usual income. Because Liberty currently expects 40 percent less than normal, the installment payments to the teams are correspondingly lower. In February there was still the final payment for 2019.

Since March, an amount has been paid out over nine months based on the total revenue expected from Formula 1 for this season. A team that would have received a monthly sum of six million dollars in a normal season with 22 races now has to be content with 3.6 million. The last payment in February 2021 then corrects the deficit in one direction or the other.

If you don't have a large financial cushion up your sleeve, you quickly get into trouble. Like McLaren, like Williams. The traditional teams have to borrow on their silverware in order to get short-term money. Short-time working only helps to a limited extent in saving. 'The state only pays for threeMonths and even up to a limit of £ 2,500 per employee. We have to put the rest on top, 'explains Racing-Point team boss Otmar Szafnauer.

Stefan Baldauf

Formula 1 hopes all ten Teams to get through the corona crisis.

2021 can reduce minus from 2020

Teams like Racing Point and Haas reckon they will get into this Save only 20 percent of the usual expenses in the season. 15 races are cheaper than 22. There are fewer travel and vehicle parts costs. The development effort is also reduced with the compressed season.

Racing Point plans with just one major upgrade. Haas may only make minor modifications to the VF-20. 'The wages continue to run. Short-time work is only a small relief,' explains Szafnauer. The largest item has already been consumed. 'The new cars and spare parts have been produced. If we don't drive, that's dead capital.'

So the bottom line is that the teams have to reckon with a decline of around 20 percent for this financial year. However, this can be partially compensated for with full income in 2021. Because the development of the 2021 car is severely restricted and the homologation requires the adoption of many components. 'We don't have to build a new car and we don't need as many parts as usual,' says Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.

The 28 percent reduction in wind tunnel time alone saves 20 to 30 percent according to the engineers' calculations of the usual budget in this area. 'In the end we will lose maybe ten percent over two years,' estimates Szafnauer. That doesn't hit the small teams as hard as it used to.

The new cost cap of 145 million dollars ensures that even the big teams have to give up and the difference to the rest is no longer as significant. Nevertheless, there can be no talk of total equality of opportunity. 'We won't reach the full budget at the beginning,' announced Szafnauer. Steiner also admits: 'We will be under our individual budget cap in 2021.'