Haas crew principal Ayao Komatsu reckons that “everyone” is towards 2026’s deliberate value cap offset for Audi to account for Swiss wages, stating that it dangers opening a can of worms.
The upper common wage in Switzerland signifies that the present Sauber crew operates at a theoretical drawback on the subject of funds obtainable for growth, assuming an equivalent-sized workforce to the groups that function within the UK and Italy.
This has prompted the FIA to desk an modification to the 2026 value cap rules with the intent of accommodating Swiss wage information and value of dwelling from the Organisation for Financial Co-Operation and Growth.
Komatsu revealed that the fee cap offset had not been finalised, largely as a result of the 9 different groups are towards the transfer, and recommended that the FIA had taken a one-dimensional view.
“Why does a crew primarily based in Switzerland have an exemption? Everyone chooses the place to arrange the crew. Between London and Oxford and north of England, costs are totally different,” Komatsu stated.
“So the place do you cease? The place you draw the road? And for those who take a look at these issues, it’s a must to take a look at all of the social advantages and every part, and likewise [for] folks to stay in Switzerland, the reasoning will be totally different, proper?
“, I bear in mind a very long time in the past attempting to rent someone from Sauber, however this man cherished the crew, cherished mountains. So he did not wish to come to England. So all these issues come into the equation.
“I believe it’s extremely harmful to have a look at one dimension and say, ‘Okay, it is costlier right here’, you may simply take a look at the worth of a beer or one thing, after which saying, ‘Okay, it is costlier – due to this fact you need to give an exemption’.”
Ayao Komatsu, Workforce Principal, Haas F1 Workforce
Picture by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Photographs
Having cited the variance of value of dwelling and common wage throughout totally different components of the UK, Komatsu additionally famous the totally different financial scenario in Italy, and contended that these ought to be components as properly.
He warned that the FIA might then find yourself creating additional issues down the road with tweaks to the monetary rules, and implored them to maintain it easy.
“In F1 Fee conferences, aside from Sauber funnily sufficient, everyone’s towards it. So, I do not know why FIA is simply utterly pushing for it,” Komatsu continued.
“Then it’s a must to say, how about these guys in Italy? Ferrari, RB’s acquired some services in Italy as properly. And likewise we have now a half-Italian facility, half-UK facility, the place do you cease?
“When it comes to Italy, there’s an enormous tax profit for the primary [four] years. It is really to compete for, like when Loic Serra went from Mercedes to Ferrari, proper?
“I do not wish to use him for instance, however a senior engineer going from UK to Italy, there may be sure monetary large profit in Italy. So are you compensating for that? After all not.
“Except you take a look at each single dimension, it’s extremely, very troublesome to make it utterly honest. Are you able to take a look at each single dimension? I do not suppose so.”
“I do not wish to criticise the FIA an excessive amount of, however you may see on different guidelines as properly – sporting guidelines, like how we do these security automotive occasions in qualifying, monitor limits, all these issues.
“The extra you regulate it by defining sure particulars, you have to be sure you cowl each single state of affairs, however the extra you go in particulars, it goes harder to cowl these, [you] create one other drawback, proper?
“So if they are saying, ‘Switzerland exempt’, what’s subsequent? It is like this security automotive time concern within the qualifying, and so they did that, to attempt to to unravel one concern in qualifying, out lap and so on, however then created one other concern. So for me, it is so significantly better to maintain it easy.”