Red Bull boss Christian Horner says they are still committed to cost-control – Formula 1 news
Red Bull principal Christian Horner says that they are still committed towards controlling costs even though they quit the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).
Red Bull is serving its two-month notice period at the moment, and Horner explained that Red Bull is still very much inclined to work with FOTA over cost reduction for the betterment of the sport.
The main criticism that was mentioned was that FOTA was not allowing sufficient enough test drives for teams to work with and also for young drivers to learn and experience the cars they are going to race in. Other significant issue was the matter of budgeting.
Horner believes that cost controlling is important but each team needs to budget their team in a different manner. Some teams he said are automotive manufacturers and some are independent. So they need to look into different aspect of their expenditure.
“It is a two-month notice period that both Ferrari and ourselves will serve and I think Sauber have joined that now,” he said on Saturday. “We have a meeting with some of the other FOTA members on Monday to talk about cost control, but we'll see. Nothing
is ever totally set in stone, but for the time being we feel that it is the right decision to take to step out of FOTA.”
Red Bull and Ferrari were the two major teams who announced their resignation from the association, and gave lengthy statements for the reasons behind their decision. Sauber was the next team to follow them although they remained private over their reasons
for their decision.
Toro Rosso sister company of Red Bull is tipped to be next in line, but they have not made any decisions yet.
A spokesperson of FOTA said that there will be talks over the decisions of the teams, and they will try to resolve them and come to some sort of resolution. Horner seconded that notion and said that if FOTA can make the necessary changes they can revert
from their decision.
Mercedes came out in support of the association and said that it is integral to the sport and big teams like Ferrari and Red Bull should also support it in order to benefit the sport.
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