Originally Posted by ZCanadian

Which basically means we won't get the best racing possible in 2022. Teams like Alfa, Haas and Williams did not throw a lot of dollars at upgrades this past year, but frankly they'd have better chances of being hit by lighting twice than cracking the 2022 car out of the gate. Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari certainly brought a lot of upgrades to the 2021 table. RBR had to, as they may well have lost Max if they couldn't provide him with a competitive car. Now, they have taken on the engine from Honda, which must have eaten into their budget as well (just to maintain the status quo PU). Ferrari and AMG seem to have been more cagey about their upgrades, but it appears from the second half of their seasons that they invested rather heavily. I question whether McLaren had the funds to spend up to the budget cap in 2021.

So my guess is that we'll see haphazard results for the first half of the year, with tweaks brought in later in the season. The most adaptable drivers will really shine - but they can only do so much to make up for a less than ideal car. If that is what F1 calls fairer racing, then it is just going to benefit the smaller teams, not really the fans.