The Covid-19 pandemic affected the financial conditions of the participants in the electric car competition, so that three manufacturers, such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes, chose to withdraw. They want to focus on other programs.
To maintain the continuity of the competition, FE has tightened the ceiling on team spending per season to a maximum of 13 million euros. While the power train development budget is 25 million euros for two consecutive seasons.
Through this new cost structure, manufacturers and teams are expected to have long-term stability and safety planning.
The economic situation is expected to improve in two years, so Formula E intends to ease the limit slightly to 15 million euros from 2024-2025. This figure includes the driver’s salary.
Andretti who left BMW certainly welcomed positively. The boss of the United States racing team, Roger Griffiths, said that they did not mind if spending was reduced even more.
“It depends on the size of your organization and the hurdles you have to face to get there,” he said.
“We are a humble organization and there is no big upper floor above us. For us, it’s a number where we can do very well.
“We will support even with a lower limit because we will include drivers’ salaries in that 13 million euros.”
After parting ways with BMW, Andretti automatically became an independent Formula E team, similar to his participation in other categories, such as IndyCar and Extreme E.
“For us, this means that we have two sources of income. One from sponsors and the other from gifts. We operate our program with a sensible business model,” he said.
“We have to earn money together. So if we need 10 million euros to be able to drive, then we’ll just spend it.”
Griffiths treats a team like a company. When you lose, the consequence is that the team is forced to withdraw from the race.
“Andretti is a company and if we are in the red, we will disappear as soon as possible from motorsport,” he said.
“Nothing we did could jeopardize the future of the organization.”
When asked if the Gen3 Formula E era, which will be rolled out for the 2022-2023 season, will be affected by a budget reduction, Griffiths said it was unlikely. The reason is, the funds spent are still quite large because the latest version of the car is under development and previously there was no limit.
The effect of the new budget limit will be felt in 2024-2025, when the car is homologated.
