Big teams pay parts suppliers more - Gascoyne

Even in the race for suppliers, F1’s better funded bigger teams are winning the race.

That is the claim of Team Lotus technical director Mike Gascoyne, after a report in Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the grandees are paying the limited number of suppliers extra money for faster service.

That has meant that some of the smaller teams, paying suppliers regular prices without the premiums, have had to wait longer for parts.

The Resource Restriction Agreement means less can be bought by teams from outside suppliers, with the result that the better-funded teams can simply make the required parts in-house.

That frees up more money to legitimately spend externally.

"The big teams get something made quickly by paying an extra bonus, slipping a small team a few places back on the waiting list," said Gascoyne.

The Briton said the situation has been caused by the financial crisis, with many existing suppliers going out of business.

"There is a high demand, also because there are twelve teams today instead of ten," added Gascoyne.