The FIA has announced that from 2010, teams will be allowed more technical freedom if they agree to a cost cap of $30million, to cover ‘expenditure of any kind’. Teams will also be free to instead continue running under the existing rules, which are to remain stable until 2012.
The teams that accept the cost cap will be granted technical freedoms in three main areas: a more aerodynamically efficient (but standard) under body; movable wings; and an engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze.
To ensure that the cost-capped cars have neither an advantage nor a disadvantage when compared to cars running to the existing rules, the FIA will retain the right to adjust elements of these freedoms.
The FIA says the move provides, in essence, a choice between (i) the current freedom to spend and continued adherence to the existing technical constraints and (ii) a new degree of freedom to innovate technically but with a severely restricted budget.
According to the FIA, the aim is to make it easier for new teams to enter and also allow existing teams to participate on much reduced budgets should they so choose.