First Wave Of Employees Given The Boot
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Core group will remain intact, but how many are left?
McLaren announced today that they would cut their staff by as much as 1200.This is not just in the McLaren side who are a supercar manufacturer but also on the Formula One side. Research and development takes presidence as this is the heartbeat of their operation with the Formula One side allowing them to experiment and create new technological breakthroughs.
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Not a job that grows on trees and know how tough it is to get in the door. I went through 120 other people to get to the final 2 only to back out and I know the job would have been mine. Sometimes family comes first yet I wish I at least did it for one season.
The Covid pandemic has effected every industry in some way, many more negatively though. Formula One's budget cap has also had an impact on this which is a good thing in many ways as it allows for a competitive playing field. it may not be level as i expect Ferrari to manipulate their costings between the road cars and Formula One. Thy are one team that does not have separate accounting books and leaves a some what muddy grey area.
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Every McLaren division would have felt the chopping block this time around.
McLaren cut their budget in 2018 by a whopping $200 Million and last year managed to remain competitive on a spend of $250 Million. They had to shed another $100 Million to come into line with the latest regulations. Luckily for them they will have a Mercedes engine from next season which the Mercedes crew help improve alongside the McLaren team. Over the last few years they have had the Renault engine which has not been as competitive.
So in a nutshell McLaren have gone from spending $450 Million to around $145 Million is 3 years. That is a drastic change for any business but at least it was staggered. Ferrari,Red Bull and Mercedes have to do this over one season and their budgets were far greater that the $450 Million.
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Be interesting times as I am sure many are worried about their positions in other teams now.
Luckily for them they were all involved in developing medical equipment for their perspective governments. This will allow them to cover the costs of experienced engineers whilst they develop other items away from Formula One. Mercedes and Ferrari have massive work forces but then again they are massive companies backing the Formula One teams so job losses should be less than what we have seen at McLaren.
The FIA was trying to make the racing industry sustainable as there were around four or five teams who were seriously struggling to keep up and were being left behind. I do believe the mentality of the owners has also something to do with it and some poor boardroom decisions have seen the likes of Williams suffer. The one good thing is Williams have no excuses now as everyone is competing on the same budgets. Drivers salaries though are not part of the budget cap along with the team principals.
In my opinion Williams has only themselves to blame for the shambles they have called a racing team for the last 10 years or so. Paying for your seat with second rate drivers is not the business model any team should be following. Even if those drivers had the best car they would not win a race as they are second rate compared to the best out their.
I cannot wait for the other drivers with their Super Licences coming across from other sectors of the racing industry and showing what they have. This is anew rule that should have been bought in years ago but wasn't as I believe it kept the Formula One family together. The driver seats were kind of protected as one can see by the regular names popping up every year with offspring from former drivers being given the nod.
The Lance Strolls and Sergio Perez's should be worried along with a whole host of others who are sub standard for what is expected. Natural talent should be allowed to rise to the top and hopefully it will be allowed to now.