“This cup by the FIA should not be included in the budget cap”. The president of the FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem on the occasion of the 2022 Award Ceremony in Bologna, handing over the Constructors’ trophy to Christian Horner, he spared no dig at the Red Bull team principal regarding the infringement by the Milton Keynes team of the cost ceiling for the 2021 F1 season. The number one of the Federation, decidedly ‘excited’ on a stage that saw him as a great protagonist throughout the Award Ceremony, also ventured into a ‘defense’ of the FIA on the issue of the points assigned on the occasion of the Japanese Grand Prix which crowned Max Verstappen world champion for the second time in a row.
The Dutch driver could have had no idea that the points awarded had been all those envisaged by the regulations in the light of a race practically halved due to pouring rain and so he had claimed on several occasions that he was quite skeptical about having won the World title ( the last one even in the podium room after having undergone quite surreal ritual interviews). This ‘number’ of Sulayem definitely out of place he was sedated by Stefano Domenicali who brought the FIA president and Christian Horner back to the protocol of the Award Ceremony without spicy and unscheduled spicy.
Red Bull’s breach of the budget cap was obviously not met with smiles from the competing teams which according to Ben Sulayem “they wanted to see the blood flow” in terms of sanctions and penalties. Regarding this matter, Stefano Domenicali interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport underlined the difficulties inherent in a completely new financial regulation that is not easy to manage and control: “Let’s take a step back. With the introduction of the cap on expenses, F1 has faced a positive but at the same time epochal change, which has offered a world in need of it long-term financial stability. But let’s talk about a reality that until now has always been measured with technical and sporting regulations, it is not painless to introduce a financial variable. So it was important for the FIA to organize a structure that didn’t exist. The teams, in economic terms, were used to spending everything they had. We have to trust the Federation and hope that its decision, with the punishment at Red Bull, is right“.
On Sunday he also expressed confidence in the work of a ‘new’ FIA which is taking shape under the leadership of Ben Sulayem: “I’m a bit out of the fray and the political tactics of the teams. The federation, which is strong in controlling regulations, is restructuring and regrouping under new president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The system must be 100% credible, for this to happen, the contribution of all the parties involved is needed: F.1, FIA, teams, manufacturers, organizers. We are in great health, but it doesn’t take much to go back”.
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