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- Formula 1’s financial regulations were introduced in 2021 with a cap set at a base price of $145 million.
- Paddock sources have pointed at Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin as being over the budget cap.
- If the FIA fails to come down hard on violators, it could be "game over" for the budget cap, says at least one team official.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner on Saturday in Singapore angrily rejected suggestions that his team has been in breach of Formula 1’s Financial Regulations.
Formula 1’s financial regulations were introduced in 2021 with a cap set at base of $145 million, albeit with several exclusions and clauses relating to Sprint qualifying races, driver salaries and the number of overall events.
Reports emerged earlier this week in German publication Auto Motor und Sport and Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport that two teams were in breach of those financial regulations for 2021. Paddock sources have pointed at Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin.
The FIA is due to deliver certifications for 2021 compliance on Wednesday and any team that has breached the cap will not receive them and be liable to further scrutiny per the regulations. These regulations outline that sanctions can from fines or reprimands to points deductions and exclusion.
If the FIA fails to come down hard on violators, it could be "game over" for the budget cap, says at least one team official.
In a statement, the FIA outlined that “it notes significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture in relation to this matter, and reiterates that the assessment is ongoing and due process will be followed without consideration to any external discussion.”
Red Bull Racing have firmly denied any knowledge of wrongdoing but rival teams Mercedes and Ferrari have already made pointed comments—though have tellingly not directly named any other outfit.
“We stand absolutely 100% behind that submission that we are below the cap,” said Red Bull team principal Horner. “We were a little bit taken aback by comments that were coming from two of our rival teams. The submission between the team and the FIA is one that is confidential. I have no idea what the outcome of our rivals’ submissions are, or the accounting treatment or so on.
"So I would be intrigued to know where their source of information for these fictitious claims have come from. They are hugely defamatory and we take umbrage to them. One can only assume it’s not coincidental that this is at a point where Max (Verstappen) has his first strike at a world championship. How on earth do they have this information? Where do they have this knowledge? The FIA have even stated they haven’t even completed their process. So unless there is a clear withdrawal of those statements, we will taking it incredibly seriously and looking at what the options available to us are, because it is absolutely unacceptable to be making comments of the type that were made.”
Horner went on to question the impartiality of a journalist from the BBC before venting about the situation.
“Perhaps when these accusations are made, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones and we take umbrage and extremely seriously the remarks that have been made,” said an increasingly riled Horner. “Is it any coincidence that Max [Verstappen] has his first shot at winning a world title and here we are talking nothing but cost caps, rather than the phenomenal performance that he has had this year? I think it’s an underhand tactic that’s been employed to detract from perhaps a lack of performance on track this year. And of course when references are made to last year, this year, next year, we’re going to take that extremely seriously. So this is an issue for the FIA to deal with but also an issue for Red Bull to consider what our position is with those comments that have been made.”
Those comments are believed to refer to accusations made by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Ferrari Sporting Director Laurent Mekies.
“It’s weeks and months that they are being investigated,” Wolff told Sky on Friday. “Maybe he (Horner) doesn’t speak to his CFO. All of us have been investigated diligently and as far as we understand, there’s a team in (a) minor breach which is more procedural and another team that is fundamentally massively over. That is being look after, that’s an open secret in the paddock.
“The crucial part is that if you’re over in 2021, you’re over in 2022. That means that you have an advantage into 2023. If it’s true they’ve homologated a lightweight chassis this year, they may use it next year. It’s a real cascade of events that can be influential in all the championships.”
Ferrari's Mekies suggested that if there is a breach, and a sanction is deemed too light, then it risks destroying the cost cap in its entirety.
“It is a very vital test for the cost cap,” he said. “If we don't pass that test, it's probably game over, because the implications are huge. Should we talk about penalties now? Probably not. I know, it's probably what the people in the grandstands want to see and we respect that. But in fact, we are, we are much earlier in the process than that, and probably an even more key aspect of it, is there a breach? Do we agree on the entity of the breach and that, as a result, confirm the rule everybody is obeying. So, I think what is very much crucial now is that the FIA fully enforce rules as they are written now. And then after the penalties are a different matter.”
Other team principals have pointed to the strict implementation of Sporting and Technical Regulations as justification that the same approach is needed for the Financial Regulations.
“I think that the Financial Regulation was the biggest move of the F1 over the last 20 years,” said Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur. “And we don't have to jeopardize something like this for lack of decision. If it’s the end of the cost-cap, for me it's not the end of the F1 but almost.
"We have to take action. It's not a matter of X millions or whatever, because I don’t want to disclose numbers, but the budget of development of Alfa Romeo is something like 2.4 million over the season. And for sure that your colleagues said before that we are speaking about three times this. It’s a mega amount, okay? I remember perfectly that I was disqualified for 0.9 mm (of a technical breach) two years ago. Mercedes, something like 1 mm in São Paulo last year. You have to put everything in perspective.”
McLaren boss Andreas Seidl was reluctant to point fingers but admitted being perplexed at why his team had to cut stuff or reduce wages while others were expanding.
“The introduction of the cost cap meant we had to put some really serious measures in place, which were affecting our people, we had to make people redundant as well, we had to ask our people to accept pay cuts or pay freezes, which was very, very serious,” he said. “And at the same time, there was, especially from two teams, an incredible aggressive hiring, still ongoing, throwing incredible salaries on the table, offering unbelievable, let's say, company benefit packages, where we're all wondering how this is possible in this new world of Formula 1, and our people are obviously challenging us if we do everything right on our side.”
Williams chief Jost Capito echoed comments made by other team bosses that “if somebody is not obeying to these rules, they have to be consequences that it's clear it's not worthwhile to overspend.”
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Ferrari Official: If F1 Budget Cap Penalties Are Too Soft, 'It's Probably Game Over' - autoweek.com
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