Why the growing pains of F1’s cost-cap era require patience

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

May 23, 2023, 12:00 PM

OPINION: A new class system may appear to have developed in Formula 1 since the introduction of the cost cap and new aerodynamic regulations. But time will, hopefully, bring the pack closer together - even if it might just take a little longer than one hoped

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Here’s a sobering statistic to slap you around the face: the top four teams have scored 92% of the available points from the opening five Formula 1 races of the season. The flip side of that statistic is that each of the bottom sextet of teams has been privy to the same maximum budget, the same regulations, and have mustered just 8% of the points on offer in 2023.

Out of context, the four-way domination of the upper echelons in the points presents a bleak picture, but it’s not much of a surprise given how things have been on track. With modern ultra-reliability and four teams exerting their hegemony on this year’s championship, it effectively means that the top eight points places are effectively spoken for barring any bursts of misfortune. That gives the rest of the grid the scraps to fight over.

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Jake Boxall-Legge

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Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.