Newey puts finger on F1 future tech recruitment problem

[John S]

Adrian has identified a previously unspoken consequence of the cost cap in F1.
Basically with the cost cap stuck or even falling how are teams going to be able to retain highly qualified engineers, let alone recruit the next generation for what is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport?

This raises a critical question for F1 can the cost cap be maintained while fostering an environment that attracts and retains top engineering talent?

How long before standards fall from what most recognise has been the second most innovative & progressive engineering hotbed to actual war?

Below are the main paras about what Newey thinks will likely cause declining standards due to cost cap.

Is the answer a shift to a two part cost cap, one part resources & materials, with manpower/staffing as a second and more flexible allocation - in terms of inflation & market conditions?

Newey on cost cap

"I think the hidden danger of the cost cap, which none of us probably really thought about when it first came in, is that Formula 1 used to be the best paid engineering discipline in the world," Newey exclusively told RacingNews365.

"Therefore, we would be able to hire and attract from universities, the brightest young graduates, and now with the cost cap, with the amount of inflation and the cost cap not rising with inflation, that is no longer the case.

"At the same time, it is a double-edged sword as we also have start-up tech companies offering very high salaries and so now when we go to the universities, trying to attract graduates, we're no longer the best.

"Equally with our existing staff, we are losing people to tech companies and that is a real problem because it makes it difficult for us, as an industry, and not just our team, to attract the best engineers in the world.

"We are then trying to attract them on the basis of passion rather than purely because of the best salaries."

For now, no major changes are in the immediate pipeline to the structure of the cost cap, although the teams and the FIA do remain in contact and in discussions.

Above paras courtesy Jake Nichol & Aaron Deckers, Racingnews365.com, 13th April 24.