In the absence of excitement on the track, given the superiority of Max Verstappen this year, the intrigues in Formula 1 have moved to the offices of the FIA. The accounts of some teams in 2021, when the budget ceiling came into force, do not finish adding up and among the teams that are in the spotlight are Red Bull and Aston Martin, the team in which Fernando Alonso will play in 2023. If it is confirmed that they exceeded the cost limit -located at 147 million euros last year-, they are exposed to a million dollar fine or even a cut in funds for the next season.
Waiting for the FIA to communicate the result of its investigation next Monday, in the Suzuka paddock the atmosphere is one of ‘cold war’, with team representatives and drivers saying theirs. On Thursday, Lewis Hamilton revived his controversy with Vestappen over the outcome of the 2021 World Cup: “At Silverstone last year we brought our latest upgrades, while Red Bull brought them every weekend and since Silverstone, they’ve had new parts for up to four races. If Mercedes had been able to spend 300,000 euros on a new floor or an adapted spoiler, it could have changed everything. I hope that was not the case”, snapped the Englishman.
Max had to reply at a press conference: “We have our reasons to believe that we have done everything right, that is what they have told me and we will see what happens on Monday. This is a matter between the FIA and the team. I’m here to drive fast and achieve the best possible result”, said the Dutchman, who this Sunday can be crowned for the second consecutive year.
The FIA was due to deliver its verdict on the potential budget cap breaches on October 5, but opted to defer its decision to Monday October 10. “We have observed significant speculation and unsubstantiated conjecture regarding this matter and we reiterate that the evaluation is ongoing and the process will be followed without taking into account the external debate”.
Zak Brown, boss of McLaren, has become a ‘spokesman’ for the teams that consider themselves aggrieved if it is confirmed that a rival cheated on their expenses: “The budget limit is very important and we have to make sure that it is applied. Y if someone fails to comply, they should be sanctioned, not only financially, but also sportingly and technically. If the technical or sporting rules are broken, penalties are imposed, and the budgetary ones should be the same because if someone has spent more than the account, that gives them an unfair advantage on the track and they have to be dealt with accordingly, firmly and quickly. “, he claims.
Mercedes and Ferrari point out that even a ‘minor infraction’, that is to say less than 5% of the ceiling, can be worth three to five tenths of a second per lap. “We are talking about even half a second and that advantage carries over to later seasons, because while it started in 2021, it will still give a competitive advantage in 2022 and 2023, so this is clearly a big deal,” stresses the Scuderia boss. , Mattia Binotto, who also demands exemplary sanctions: “Credibility in general is at stake. It would be a very big problem to handle depending on what happens.”
From Red Bull they point out that it is a destabilizing maneuver to delay Verstappen’s title and its director Christian Horner recalls that the big manufacturers, such as Mercedes or Ferrari, have a thousand ways to camouflage expenses. In any case, it rains on wet because at this point their direct rivals in the 2022 championship, especially Ferrari, are still wondering how those from Milton Keynes have done to lighten the chassis and introduce the important changes that have allowed Verstappen to substantially increase his income in the championship after the summer without exceeding the budget limit for this year.
