FIA has been in action again. Max Mosley seems to be on track to impose the budget caps from season 2009 already.
“Starting in 2009, there will be a cap on expenditure for all Formula One costs other than engines, drivers and expenditure exclusively for promotion and marketing. Because of the variety of arrangements, particularly shareholdings, team principals’ remuneration will not be included in the cap.”
The budget cap figure for 2009 and perhaps for 2010 and 2011 is expected to be set after a meeting between FIA technical advisor Tony Purnell and financial representatives of the teams on January 31 in Paris. The Financial Working Group is expected to finalize the details of the regulations before June 2008. Mosley warns of different action should not sufficient progress be made by then:
“If the Financial Working Group are unable to devise a satisfactory method of checking expenditure or if a majority of the competing teams do not agree the proposals by 30 June 2008, the cost reduction measures voted by the World Motor Sport Council on 7 December 2007 will be adopted for 2009 in their entirety.”
That would be the radical measures like the wind tunnel limits advertised by Max Mosley few weeks ago. While I think that limiting the massive spending is the step in the right direction I am not that sure it will work. Teams will be looking for the ways how to get around this especially those in a need to catch up during the season. Mosley is clearly aware of that, therefore the warning. I really want to see how is he going to police the budget cap. Especially when 3 costly areas are left out…
The FIA and the team bosses came up also with sensible proposal not to penalize one engine change per car per season. That would mean that the first 2008 engine change for a driver will not be followed by the 10 place grid penalty. This proposal needs get an approval of the World Motorsport Council and the vote is expected soon. A rare voice of reason 
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Yet another rule that f1 can not control. While I agree that reducing the cost to compete at the top level of f1 would be good for the sport, its simply not going to happen. This is a sport that spends a lot of energy pushing the envelope of rules.
Regardless of budget limits, teams will always find some walk-arounds.
How about proposing an age-limit to provide some spark into the sport
New talents are always entertaining..
there are some that believe that FIA will be able to police this budget cap. I now can’t recall who was that but one of the team principals mentioned the other day that the manufacturers can’t cook up the books without risking some serious consequences to their reputation (not only F1 related)… I do not share this view. But let’s wait and see, perhaps they set the cap at USD600 mil and everybody including Toyota will be comfortably within
As long as F1 remains a development/engineering based sport…a cap on spending will be impossible. There’s simply too much money in F1 and the parties involved will go to any length to win.