F1 teams ask FIA for spending restrictions

Melbourne: Formula One teams have written to the sport's governing body asking for spending restrictions to cap spiraling costs.

Last year, the teams mutually agreed to a Resources Restriction Agreement, but there has since been a split amid unresolved questions about whether Red Bull adhered to those agreed restrictions.

A letter was sent last week to the FIA — the sport's governing body — requesting a spending cap be inserted into the rules if the teams can't stick to one of their own.

Red Bull have balked at the idea of spending cap, fearing it would be unevenly applied.

Red Bull and sister team Toro Rosso were reportedly the only teams not to sign the letter.

"The teams asked the FIA to continue the process of looking at cost control," Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said.

"It's something which the FIA are very keen to do as well, so it was a letter of support to the FIA to say that we want to continue the process of reducing costs and look at fair ways of introducing the regulations or procedures to keep the costs under control and further reduce the costs."

There are three power blocs in Formula One: the sport's management run by Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA, and the teams. Agreement between at least two of the three and often all three is needed for any changes to proceed.

"I read a few days ago that Mr. Ecclestone was commenting that we should introduce budget cuts into Formula One, so you could say that there's quite a consensus now about doing something further," Williams team principal Adam Parr said.

Red Bull have balked at the idea of spending cap, fearing it would be unevenly applied as each team accounts for expenditure in different areas of their business and corporate structure.

"How much money a team spends should be down to the individual team," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Autosport magazine last month. "It shouldn't necessarily be that a team gains an advantage by doing that.

"Once you get into equivalence, structures of companies are different and that is where it becomes murkier."

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