FIA delays publication of review of F1 cost cap breaches
The FIA will not reveal any potential breaches of Formula 1’s new 2021 financial regulations until next week.
F1’s governing body is completing its review of each team’s accounts from last season, and teams were expected to find out whether they had complied on Wednesday (October 5).
However, the FIA has announced a timetable which indicates that this will not take place until next Monday (October 10), stating that “the analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process which is ongoing”.
This follows a controversial weekend in Singapore where two breaches were discussed, one by Red Bull and one by Aston Martin.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insisted Red Bull had spent below the budget cap and made a bid reflecting that, while Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said said he was surprised to read the speculation because “we don’t think we’ve done anything wrong.” ”.
F1’s first-ever budget cap was set at a benchmark of $145m in 2021, with additional allocations for sprint races and if the number of grand prix events exceeded 21 (which it did because it was a 22-race season).
There are various allowances under the cost cap, but it basically covers all the costs associated with running the race team, including car development.
This is the first time this process has been followed from start to finish and the FIA effectively judges whether each team’s submission was an accurate interpretation of the new financial regulations, as well as whether the submission was below the limit and submitted correctly.
Williams became the first team to violate financial regulations by reaching an accepted breach agreement when they realized they would be late to submit paperwork – for which they were fined $25,000.
But the conclusion of the whole FIA review is much more serious because any breach may have brought significant benefits for the 2021 season, which ended almost a year ago, and beyond. .
Mercedes and Ferrari annoyed the FIA last weekend with comments they made in public, as Red Bull’s two main rivals ensured a key narrative from the Singapore GP event concerned the ceiling budget and the importance of severe sanctions even for a “minor” infringement.
A minor infraction is defined by regulations as being less than 5% of the budget cap, which would mean that a $7.25 million overrun could fall into that category while “only” $4 million would still be a season. complete car development or dozens of full-time staff.
Mercedes and Ferrari also believe any breach in 2021 would bring benefits for at least three seasons.
Wednesday’s FIA statement reiterated that there had been “substantial and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture about this matter” and also claimed that “any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is also unfounded”.
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