On several occasions, the argument of "doing more for less" has showed up in this forum when comparing performances from different teams. In order to have a metric to do those comparisons, maybe we could try to compile a list of the 2011 team budgets. Kind of like the wheelbase comparison thread, but financial.
Here is the info I have gathered for now:
From most of what I've been able to dig up from different sources, Ferrari has the biggest 2001 budget (199M Euros), with McLaren and Red Bull not far behind. Red Bull has actually increased its budget this season, the only top team to do so. Which is why many think they do not really abide to the RRA.
Mercedes' budget in 2010 was 80M Euros. 30M from Petronas, and 50M from FOM for having won the 2009 championship. Nothing from Mercedes, except from buying the team. And Mercedes have publicly said they would not give any money to the team and that the full funding had to come from sponsorships and FOM image rights, that's how they got the Daimler shareholders to accept the purchase of the F1 team.
So the 2010 Mercedes budget was less than half that of Ferrari's 2011 budget. And Mercedes' 2011 budget is even less than that. They announced a 10% cut for 2011, so it would be 72 million, a bit over a third of Ferrari's purse.
As far as Red Bull goes, their 2010 budget was rumored to be around 180M, and it was announced by the team that it increased this year, probably thanks to the FOM image rights from last year's championship win. McLaren are also rumored to be in the same ballpark, but again I couldn't find a precise figure.
HRT is the smallest financially with 34M for 2011. Sauber are rumored to be around 48-52M.
It can also be useful to take infrastructure into account when trying to assess efficiency.
In the end, the deal is the following, from what little info I could gather:
Ferrari: huge infrastructure, 199M Euros for 2011.
McLaren: slightly less big but still huge infrastructure, 180-200M
Red Bull: smaller but very up to date infrastructure, 180-200M
Renault: Smaller infrastructure, 86M
Mercedes: big but old infrastructure, smaller workforce than the other three, 72M
Williams: Consequent and modern infrastructure, but unreliable wind tunnel. No precise money figure found. Est. 60-80M.
Force India: Small and modern infrastructure, no precise money figure found. Est. 60-80M.
Sauber: very modern infrastructure, around 48-52M
Lotus: basic infrastructure, no precise budget figure. Est. 40-60M.
Virgin: little to no infrastructure, around 45M
HRT: Little to no infrastructure, 34M
So guys, post here your opinion as to who is the most efficient, who is throwing away money for nothing this season, and if you have any extra info on the budgets please update the list!