F1 drivers weigh in their thoughts about the penalty that the FIA could give to Red Bull and Aston Martin regarding the cost cap breach.
The matter started in Singapore when reports linked Red Bull and Aston Martin of a F1 cost cap breach for their 2021 submissions. The FIA eventually confirmed a procedural trouble involving both the teams, while the former also had a ‘minor’ overspending situation.
The minor definition as per the regulation is around 5% of the cost cap. Multiple reports have indicated of the breach to multiple reasons, but Red Bull stated that they were under the budget rather than over. None of the parties have released any ‘numbers’ around it.
Things heated up on social media as certain section of fans have demanded removal of Max Verstappen as a F1 champion, but Zak Brown in his letter suggested penalties such as lowering the cost cap and or limiting the windtunnel/CFD time.
The discussions are ongoing about a possible penalty, with Christian Horner likely to meet FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over the US GP weekend. Red Bull were slated to host a press conference on Friday, but it depends on the meet between the two.
Amid this, some of the F1 drivers have shared their thoughts on the matter where the teams on the other side pushed for hefty punishment naturally while the Red Bull duo were reserved about the extent of penalty on their outfit.
Here’s what some of the F1 drivers had to say:
Hamilton: “I can’t really give you much of an answer. There’s nothing I can say that would be beneficial, it’ll be on the assumption of what may or may not happen. So, I’m not giving it any energy, I’m focused on really continuing to try and gee up the team, really trying to turn this car around. Working on things that I generally can control. Like I’ve said in the past it’s… I think it’s the integrity of the sport is… right now where I think the decisions that hopefully will be made will… I do believe that Mohammed and his team will make the right decisions. I have to believe that. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, naturally. And otherwise, as I said, I’m just focused on doing the best job I can. What they’ve ever done is done.”
Sainz: “It’s not only Red Bull, right? I’m joking. There’s Lance here, who is not listening! But I think every team and every driver, we just want clarity, first of all, and second, fairness. And we all know how much 1, 2, 3, 4 – I don’t know what’s the number – million can make to car development and car speed in Formula 1. That’s why years ago everyone was spending 350 million, or the top three teams were spending 350 million, and now we’re spending 150 to keep these things under control. And yeah, I just hope that if there’s a penalty the penalty is relatively important to take the appetite away from overspending 2 or 3 million to waste on next year’s car because you think next year’s car is worth it more than the other year, and then you take a penalty for ignoring it. I don’t know, I just think it needs to be fair play for everyone. And if there’s a cost cap, it’s there to be followed and I just hope that the FIA takes the right decisions to make sure that everyone follows it.”
Bottas: “I’m in quite a same line than Carlos. I feel like rules are the rules and if you don’t follow them, there should be a penalty that really hurts because like Carlos said, you don’t want anyone to have the appetite to maximise something for one year and risking with a budget cap but then… I personally hope that it’s going to be a strict and harsh penalty because that shouldn’t happen: rules are the rules. There’s many rules in F1 and there should be no difference in terms of the penalty. So let’s hope so, that it’s a good penalty that really, really hurts them because, like I said, I was sitting in the fight last year for the constructors. Yes, we got that but we missed the drivers title by a few points and a few millions, it can make a big, big difference.”
Russell: “I think we’re all interested to see the punishment and it’s going to be a defining moment for the sport and the FIA when we hear the outcome of this breach. I think the cost cap regulation has been a real benefit, and a positive impact for the sport, trying to bring a level playing field. When it comes to this, we live in such a technical world with small details where if you go beyond the limit, you’re punished. It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 grams too much fuel, or if you’re rear wing – like Lewis in Brazil – is too wide, you’re disqualified and you’re punished accordingly.
“When it comes to something about the money you’re spending, this is a pretty serious breach. If they’ve overspent and it’s brought performance to their race car, it’s got to be something to take performance away. Giving a fine, which has got nothing to do with their overall development or performance, would not be suitable. Even if the fine was a hundred-odd million, they’d probably take that and be happy with that punishment. Whereas if you’re talking reducing their cost cap or reducing the amount of time they can put into the wind tunnel, that is truly damaging.”
Perez: “Well, we believe that we are in line and we believe that everything will come up in the right situation. Obviously, I will leave it down to my team to solve that together with the FIA, but at the end of the day, there’s always teams that want to take performance out of you, especially when you are winning, so it’s part of the sport and this has been forever and I just think that it will be… it’s just a normal situation and everything. At the end of the day facts will come out and people will see and understand the situation.”
Verstappen: “I think it’s mainly because we’re doing well. They try to slow us down in any way possible. That’s how Formula 1 works… everyone is at the end of the day a bit hypocritical. We just have to focus on our job. Nothing has been confirmed yet but as a team we know what we have to deal with and we are very clear with what we think is correct.”
Fans demanding reversal of champion –
Hamilton: “Well, firstly, I love my fans. I love how passionate they are. So, I’ve not been really… I’ve heard the things that have been said. I’m generally looking forwards. I’m looking at how I can win another Championship. I’m not… I have my own opinions of what we did as a team and how we did it last year. And I’m really proud of that. And, belief in what we earned. It doesn’t really change a huge amount. I do think that sport needs to do something about this in the future otherwise, if it’s quite relaxed… if they relax with these rules, then all the teams would just go over, spending millions more and then only having a slap on the wrist, is obviously not going be great for the sport. They might as well not have a cost cap in the future. So, yeah… that’s all I’ve got to say.”
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