The FIA has granted all F1 teams an extra allowance with which to improve the infrastructure of their factories.
The top teams can spend an extra $6m, the middle-ranking outfits $14m, and the four bottom teams – namely AlphaTauri, Williams, Haas and Sauber/Alfa Romeo – can now invest an extra $20m.
However, Bayer, who helped create the cost cap and the financial regulations when working for the FIA, says that that extra funding is not available to the team.
"I think the first question to ask really is do we do we have the money?," he told Autosport when asked about the CapEx allowance.
"Because we haven't forecasted any of that money when we went to meet the shareholders for the budget planning. So I have to say that I'm not really a big fan of it, to be honest.
"I was, as you know one of the architects of the cost cap, and we set out to level the playing field. Now, I understand that sometimes we need to make adjustments, and we did.
"But I think it's difficult to understand. Because you make a plan, you sort of focus on where you spend the money. And then a month later, everything's changing and you're like, 'I made my plan. These guys maybe knew something I didn't know.'"
While Williams already had funding earmarked for CapEx investment, and Sauber is keen to ramp up its Hinwil base ahead of Audi's takeover, Bayer says it's not as straightforward for AlphaTauri to find that $20m.
Source: Autosport