Ferrari looking at IndyCar due to F1 budget cap

Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has revealed that the Prancing Horse is looking at expanding into IndyCar as a response to Formula 1’s impending budget cap.

A $175 million limit (with a raft of exceptions) had been set to take effect in 2021 before teams agreed to cut the headline figure to $145 million after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

According to Binotto, the latter cap amount would already force teams into difficult decisions about staffing, let alone if calls such as those from the McLaren F1 Team’s Zak Brown to reduce it even further were realised.

That concern is said to be part of the motivation for Ferrari to look to IndyCar, and also sportscar racing.

“Ferrari feels a lot of social responsibility towards its employees and we want to be sure that for each of them there will be a workspace in the future,” Binotto told Sky Sport Italia.

“For this reason, we have started to evaluate alternative programs, and I confirm that we are looking at IndyCar, which is currently a very different category from ours (F1) but with a change of regulation scheduled in 2022.

“We also observe the world of endurance racing and other series. We will try to make the best choice.

“In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion about the downsizing of the budget available for Formula 1 teams and a conclusion has now been reached.

“The limit of $175 million that had been defined and voted (last year) will be lowered to $145 million.

“At Ferrari, we were structuring ourselves based on the budget approved last year, and the further reduction represents an important challenge that will inevitably lead to review staff, structure and organization.”

IndyCar has long coveted a third engine supplier to join Chevrolet and Honda, and will introduce a hybrid system in 2022, as Binotto alluded to.

Dallara has been the exclusive chassis supplier to the North American series since 2009, with a new spec also due in 2022 at this stage, although there has been no indication that there will necessarily be a change to the single chassis formula.