Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1130632
30 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2019 SPORTS FORMULA 1 FORMULA 1 teams and boss- es have agreed to delay the finalisation of new rules for 2021 until the end of October. There was a statutory dead- line of this month for the changes to be settled but the unanimous agreement re- quired for a delay was reached on Thursday. To achieve it, teams had to sign a letter guaranteeing that provisions for a budget cap and other financial rules could not undergo any further changes. Five smaller teams had re- fused to agree to the delay without this promise. This means that in 2021 teams will have to operate on a maximum budget of $175m, with exclusions for driver costs, the salaries of the three top executives, and marketing and race weekend travel costs. For the top three teams Mer- cedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, this is a significant drop from the $300-400m they currently spend. An FIA statement said: "While the FIA Formula 1 World Championship's key stakeholders feel the core ob- jectives outlined for the future set of regulations have been defined, in the interests of the sport it was agreed that the best outcome will be achieved by using the extra time for fur- ther refinement and additional consultation." The need for the delay arose from the fact that the technical and sporting regulations were a long way from being finalised. F1 and the FIA first sug- gested a delay until October in March, and again in April. But it has taken until a meet- ing of all parties on Thursday to reach an agreement. This followed objections from Renault, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Racing Point and Wil- liams, who were concerned that if the financial regulations were not agreed the big teams would attempt to water them down further. The original plan for a budg- et cap was a figure of $150m, but more than a year's worth of talks have led to it being re- vised upwards by $25m. The five smaller teams agreed on the revised figure on the condition that the cap would come in immediately and a three-year glide path down to the final figure was removed. Along with the 10 teams, FIA and F1, drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulken- berg and the Grand Prix Driv- ers' Association chairman Alexander Wurz were at the meeting, along with tyre sup- plier Pirelli. Formula 1 teams agree to delay finalising new rules until October Red Bull, as well as Mercedes and Ferrari, would see a big budget drop under the new rules