Next week, the FIA will announce the results of the review procedure of the expenses incurred by the ten Formula 1 teams during the 2021 season. Obviously, there are those who have begun to blurt out the outcome of the FIA report, and in the paddock the most applicant is about two teams that would have exceeded the $ 147.5 million limit.
The names indicated are those of Aston Martin and Red Bull, and in one of these two cases the infringement would exceed the 5% ceiling, a threshold that entails not only financial penalties, but also sports penalties.
Having reached the month of October without a communication yet is a symptom of a close confrontation between the FIA and one (or both) of the teams in question. Already at the beginning of the summer, rumors emerged regarding discussions between a team and the International Federation regarding some items of expenditure that the financial regulation would not clearly define. Hence the position of the team (which considered the item excluded from the ‘cap’) and the FIA which, on the contrary, assessed the expenditure as included in the ceiling.
The International Federation is obliged to communicate the outcome of the revision work, and albeit late, the final report is on its way. A second problem, which emerges with regard to a still very ‘young’ regulation, is the list of sanctions.
However, one thing seems clear: if a violation is less than 5% of the budget, it is classified as ‘minor’, and it is common opinion that in this case the sanction will be exclusively of a financial nature.
The problem, and here the discussion becomes thorny, is linked to the countermeasures envisaged for exceeding the fateful threshold of 5%, which is what some rival teams indicate to be the situation of Red Bull.
The scenario is not very clear, but it should lead to a deduction of points and / or a relegation in the world ranking, but even here it is not clear whether it is a retroactive penalty (which refers to the season in which the infringement took place) or applicable to the current championship.
An infringement of more than 5 million dollars entails a considerable advantage on the technical front, and in a season like that of 2021, decided on the edge of the ‘point’, it can obviously make the difference.
The scenario actually lends itself to uneasy readings for Red Bull. There is the matter of the lightened chassis (suddenly pushed aside) and a very demanding development program that has been carefully analyzed by the opponents. And it has obviously not gone unnoticed that Red Bull was the last team to finish development last season without experiencing delays in the design of the 2022 car.
The ball is now in the hands of the FIA, and the general picture will emerge in a few days. The most popular solution in the paddock seems to be that of two “minor” penalties, but with a very clear warning in a future key, an approach that certainly won’t make everyone agree. The other scenario, however, would be a shock, for the FIA and for Formula 1, because it would involve the revision of the world rankings in 2021 and also an impact on the current world championship.
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