Fewer GPs, but the Budget Cap remains the same: let’s find out why

The World Championship is ‘shrinking’ Formula 1 recently announced the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix – although formally the two races in Sakhir and Jeddah have not yet been definitively excluded from the calendar but ‘only’ removed from their place in the month of April – thus bringing the number of GPs scheduled for 2026 to 22, against the 24 originally planned. Furthermore, worrying rumors are emerging about the possibility that other races are in the balance and that therefore the program of this championship could undergo further shocks. Fixed limit for teams and motorists There is one thing that however will certainly not change, regardless of the number of GPs that will actually be contested this year, be it 24, 22 or even less: the Budget Cap limit. In fact, the regulation specifically states that the 215 million dollars foreseen as the spending limit for the teams applies if “24 GPs or less” are held. The only change would be if events are added – not removed – to the 24 rounds originally planned. In that case the maximum spending ceiling would be increased by 1.8 million dollars for each additional race. The same goes for the spending limit imposed on power unit manufacturers, which remains fixed at 130 million dollars. Having fewer races scheduled will therefore allow teams and engineers to be able to exploit their budget with greater flexibility. This – theoretically – could help the teams and engine manufacturers most in crisis to close the gap that separates them from their adversaries. Abstractly imagining that all teams use their Budget Cap in full over the course of a season, each team will ‘save’ on average almost a million dollars for each race that is cancelled. A compensation that could become crucial during the year in the race for developments.