F1 could introduce standard parts, Carey says

The budgets of F1 teams vary wildly, with Ferrari spending an estimated £330million last year as the likes of Force India and Sauber spent £90m and £95m respectively.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown has backed a budget cap in the past, and also claimed “there are some that think we should standardise some parts”.

Carey has now confirmed that standard parts is an option F1 has considered to cut costs, as he reiterated Liberty’s sporting chief Ross Brawn’s claim that technology should not be “dumbed down”.

“There are many paths to get there, whether it’s cost caps, or other ways to address key components of the car,” said Carey.

“We’re not looking to standardise the car – we think it is very important to continue to have a sport that is competition married to state of the art technologies.

“We’re not looking to dumb the cars down, but I think we can standardise components of it.

“We are certainly looking for ways to address what some of the teams in particular spend that would improve the overall economics of the business and enable everybody in it to benefit, as well as improving the competition.”

It is not known what F1 would seek to standardise, although Brown's suggestion earlier in the year was parts that “don't improve the show and the fans don't recognise the difference”, like suspension components.

Carey has also revealed “preliminary meetings” have been held with teams regarding cost cutting, although the objective was not to make everybody’s budget the same.

“One of the challenges we have today is there are a handful of teams that clearly spend at a level that’s much different from the others, and you can see the results on the track,” said Carey.

“So if we can bring the costs into an area where they are more comparable – not equal – to each other, it can enhance competition and would make the economics of the business much better.

“We’ve begun that process with the teams, so we’ve had some preliminary meetings.

“There are some big components to it, like addressing the engine, which is probably the most complicated part of the car as a whole.

"It is certainly our goal to address those costs, and we think the sport will on many levels benefit from that.”