Story highlights
Sauber team CEO calls for budget caps for Formula One teams
Monisha Kaltenborn says "some kind of budget cap" would make the sport "more interesting"
F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said in March that elite teams need to cut spending
Sauber enjoying a strong start to 2012 season with second place at recent Malaysian Grand Prix
The chief executive of Formula One team Sauber has backed recent calls for a budget cap saying that it would make the sport “more interesting.”
“In my view, the future should indeed lie in some kind of budget cap under which each and every team could do what they want to, because we all have different strengths,” Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO of the Swiss-based team, said in an interview with Formula1.com.
“How much longer will it take for the big teams to understand that the smaller teams are just as important to Formula One as the four big ones?”
Prior to the season opener in Australia last month, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the sport’s elite teams to cut their spending, while suggesting a mandatory budget cap could be introduced.
“The teams have to learn to be competitive without tons of money. They have to refocus again on the basics – on racing, spending on the sport – and not on baronial motor homes and all kinds of entertainment,” Ecclestone told Formula1.com.
The division of prize money and television revenue in F1 is dictated by the Concorde Agreement, a contract between the sport’s governing body, the FIA, the rights holders and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) which is due to expire in 2013.
Ecclestone is keen to explore the possibility of restricting teams’ spending in the future.
“I would welcome it,” he said. “Yes, I think it could happen. We are in the middle of discussions … They (the teams) want to get more money – to be able to spend more!” he said.
Monisha Kaltenborn: The woman racing ahead in F1
Kaltenborn is hoping to see a “major step forward” soon.
“When the current Concorde Agreement comes to an end at the end of this season, I think it would be a good time to set some kind of rules,” she said.
The Sauber team has started the 2012 season impressively with 22-year-old Mexican driver Sergio Perez claiming second place behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
After what Kaltenborn described as “painful” second half to last season, she says the team is now settling down after the departure of manufacturer BMW at the end of 2009.
“I certainly hope we can keep up this momentum! I am pretty confident that we are moving in the right direction and hopefully we can maintain this level,” she said.
