Liberty continues to push for budget cap

The proposed budget cap remained a hot topic of conversation at the latest meeting of the strategy group.

The first strategy group meeting of 2019 took place last week in Geneva, Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport and Germany's Auto Motor und Sport report.

It was Mattia Binotto's first such meeting as Ferrari boss, and La Gazzetta dello Sport cited a source who said the Italian was more like Stefano Domenicali than the harder Maurizio Arrivabene he replaces.

As for the FIA and Liberty Media, they presented their renewed push for a budget cap that will begin in 2021. In the first year, the cap would start at $185 million, reducing to $160m and $135 over the following seasons.

Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren are said to have agreed.

This is in part because the FIA and Liberty have agreed to exclude engine costs, top manager and driver salaries, and marketing and hospitality expenses.

The legal sale of parts from one team to another was reportedly also discussed.

Gene Haas, the Haas team owner, says the budget cap could help the smaller teams catch up to the big-spending top three.

"Probably (it will), if it reduces the size of their research and development," he said.

"I guess for every person we have they have five people. If there's anything that can reduce that gap between the technology they have and what we don't have, that would probably be very helpful," Haas added.

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