Formula 1 on track for fairer future

Team Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul thinks the 18-month countdown to the end of Formula 1's "two-tier" system will herald more balanced competition on the circuit.

F1 will reduce teams' cost cap to $145 million in 2021, with a further reduction in 2022－along with a set of new technical regulations aimed at leveling the playing field.

Besides tightening up the competition, Abiteboul is confident the changes will make more established teams less open to helping customer partners.

Racing Point based the design of its current F1 car on last year's title-winning Mercedes W10 and receives several parts from the German team, including the gearbox and suspension. Haas has a similar relationship with Ferrari, taking as many parts as possible for its car.

Other than supplying a power unit to McLaren, Renault currently has no technical deals. Next year McLaren is switching to Mercedes, leaving Renault as the only team with no customer alliances.

"It was a worry when there was either no budget cap or the budget cap was sufficiently high that the grid would remain under a two-tier system," Abiteboul told Autosport on the weekend.

"Now that we are getting a budget cap low enough that the grid will be much more competitive, I'm curious to see what will happen to those collaborations between teams.

"I think right now Mercedes is happy to let Racing Point copy its car, whether it's legal or not legal. But they are happy to help them in making their car very competitive. I will be very curious to see if that's still the case for 2022."

Meanwhile, Formula 1 is taking tentative steps to a return to normalcy by considering allowing fans to attend the Italian Grand Prix on Sept 6.

The opening races of the coronavirus-hit schedule are being staged behind closed doors, but the historic Monza circuit－host to the eighth stop on this season's calendar－could be the first venue where spectators are permitted, subject to social distancing and possibly wearing face masks.

On Friday, F1 revealed no positive coronavirus tests from almost 9,000 samples of its international personnel over the past two weeks.

The news that spectators might return within two months should provide a boost to the sport as Britain's Lewis Hamilton, who won the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria over the weekend, defends his championship. The Ferrari-owned Mugello track, 25 miles outside Florence, will play host to the Italian team's 1,000th race on Sept 13.

The Russian Grand Prix has also been given the green light for the end of September, and organizers of the Sochi race said on the weekend they will allow spectators.

The F1 campaign is expected to end with three consecutive races in the Middle East－with Bahrain to host two events before the season closer in Abu Dhabi on Dec 13.

Liberty Media, which owns F1, hopes to stage a minimum of 15 grands prix this year.