Horner believes in better form of cost control

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is refusing to sign off on the latest range of cost-control suggestions in Formula One, believing there are flaws behind the ideas.

So far, 10 of the 12 teams have signed a copy of a letter to the FIA regarding cost cutting and policing of the current Resource Restriction Agreement.

The RRA was implemented a few years ago to help teams save money and cope financially with the then spiralling costs of competing in F1.

Many of the measures have been successful, however, there is an appreciation far more needs to be done if teams are to avoid the possibility of going out of business.

One of the suggestions is that FIA oversee matters in particular areas such as finances and personnel, however, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have so far opted not to put pen to paper on the relevant letter.

“What I would like to make clear is Red Bull is fully behind cost control in F1,” said Horner.

“Whether the RRA is the right route to achieve that is what we question.

“I believe that letter, from what I read, requested for the FIA to police the RRA, which in our opinion would be the wrong route.

“We believe whole-heartedly in controlling costs in Formula One and not frivolous spending.

“But there are better ways of doing that and containing that through the sporting and technical regulations as opposed to a resource restriction that relies on equivalence and apportionment of time and personnel.

“That is always tricky in subsidiary companies, particularly of automotive manufacturers.

“So, we would be open to any discussion that involves cost control that pursued those avenues.”

The suggestion is a team could spend more but have less people, or vice versa, however, other financial and personnel restrictions would remain in place.

Suggested Red Bull have something to hide with regard to their finances and in not wanting to be policed by the FIA, Horner vehemently disagreed.

“It would suggest we’re structured in a different way, as a single entity, as a race team,” added Horner.

“When FOTA (Formula One Teams’ Association) was first created there were clear and tangible restrictions in personnel, amount of engines, gearboxes, in testing, all things you can see policed and genuinely save costs.

“They’re the type of things that should be focused on rather than apportionment of people’s time and equivalence which is, in any formula or mechanism, fraught with problems and difficulties.”

Representatives from five teams – Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams and Marussia – meet in Paris today to discuss the matter in greater detail.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh concedes he “can relate to everything” Horner says.

But looking at the bigger picture he said: “The fact is, at the moment, we all know there are Formula One teams struggling to survive.

“That tells us we’re not doing enough, and that’s why we’ve got to keep pushing.”