F1 is up in arms over an alleged violation at the Red Bull and Wolff turns

true wolffboss MercedesSomething has been smelled in the middle of the fight for 2021 World Cup with Red Bull. He warned in June of that year: “If Red Bull keeps developing its car, it will be two seconds slower by 2022.” He means the ones Milton Keynes They continued to improve their car constantly, when most of them had to start spending their time and money on creating a new car for 2022, completely different due to the change in regulations. But come 2022 and Red Bull has the best car. Weird? Now, in the middle of the F1 Singapore GP, instead of just thinking about the first option you have Verstappen to be crowned champion again Marina Bay Circuitthe Austrian team made the headlines a possible violation of the 2021 budget cap.

Last year, the budget limit of FIA regulations is a maximum cost per team of 145 million dollarsand reduced in 2022 to 140 million (plus 3% due to the current crisis and inflation). With that 145 million dollars, the 2021 teams had a double challenge: Building their cars for that campaign and making new single-seaters for 2022. And this Friday, ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’ and ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ revealed that two teams have broken that ceiling in 2021. That is Aston Martin, and it seems to be to a greater extent Red Bull. And although it has not been made official, Red Bull admitted that they are being investigated, although made it clear that they are not concerned about it.

A regulation without clear penalties

Trouble was served and you didn’t have to be a lynx to know that Mercedes would put all the meat on the grill for Red Bull to receive an exemplary punishment. But here’s the problem: What penalty will be applied to Red Bull for breaking this new regulation? These F1 laws were created with many loopholes. The main one is that the penalties are unclear and there are no clear and concrete penalties for exceeding that limit.

The penalty can range from a fine, if it is a “minor infraction” (not exceeding the 5 million limit) to greater penalties such as deducting points from the constructors’ championship in the season in which the team violated the regulation. , the deduction of points from the drivers’ championship, a higher aerodynamic test limit or greater cost reduction for future campaigns. If the offender exceeds the budget limit by more than 5%, the cost limit adjudication panel, with independent judges, can impose one of the above penalties or even exclude a team. But what could happen to Red Bull? The possible punishments are so many and so different from each other, that all are unknown.

The problem is, if it is shown that Red Bull has exceeded that budget ceiling, it could destroy Verstappen’s title in 2021, which was already decided in a controversial ending in which Mercedes felt very hurt. The higher costs in 2021 could be the key to winning the title that year and creating a winning car for 2022, getting a winning base that could allow him to face the 2023 campaign as the favorite . And if the punishment is not exemplary, other teams can take these limits on the bullfighter.

Toto Wolff, furious

Christian Horner denied that Red Bull exceeded the limits. And Wolff was quick to reply to his biggest enemy in the paddock: “What Christian said is funny because they have been investigated for weeks and months, so maybe he won’t talk to his CFO. In fact, all of us are being investigated.”

“From what we understand, there is a team with a minor offense (Aston Martin), which is more procedural, and another team that is fundamentally and massively out (of bounds) and is still being evaluated. So that’s an open secret in the paddock”, Wolff told ‘Sky’.

“The most important part is that if you were (on top) in 2021, then you are in 2022 and you have an advantage for 2023,” said Wolff. It should be noted that team bosses such as Mattia Binotto (Ferrari) said a few months ago that he did not understand how Red Bull could change its race car according to the race without exceeding the cost limits . And the last straw is the rumor that Red Bull has already homologated a lighter chassis that will make them faster. “If it’s true that they’ve homologated a lighter chassis for this year, they could use it next year. So it’s really a cascade of events that could influence all three championships,” Wolff said.

Mercedes and Ferrari say that with 5 million more you can improve a car up to half a second, so their anger is huge.

“The FIA ​​is finalizing the review of the 2021 financial data submitted by all Formula 1 teams. Alleged breaches of the Financial Regulations, if any, will be dealt with in accordance with the formal process that established by the regulations,” he said in a statement. FIA statement.

The result will be known next week, when the FIA ​​announces the decision to examine the accounts of the 2021 team. But nothing is clear. The regulation has many loopholes.

“We’re not worried”

Meanwhile, at Red Bull they acted like it was none of their business. “A number of FIA accountants were involved in our accounts and there was a discussion about several positions, working where. We have different companies: RB Advanced Technologies, RB Technology, RB Powertrains, and you have to separate the they are very clear,” said Helmut Marko, advisor to Red Bull, who is sure that they have not violated the regulations: “from our point of view, no”, showing anger at the leak of a fact that only the FIA knower: “The FIA ​​says it knows nothing, but it is strange that the points of an ongoing process have been made public, which have not been clarified recently. It is bad for the reputation.”

For his part, Chris Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull, also referred to what happened in the same line: “I think that certainly our presentation was below the limit and it depends on the FIA, obviously, to follow their process, what they are doing now.”

“Each team, in theory, is subject to the limit, so they have reviewed each team’s submitted account. So they are going through a process and the completion date has been moved from July to September and now to October, but it is a lot of work. They go through a lot,” he said. And it was that, the law was made, the trap was made. It is very difficult to fully meet the costs of an entire F1 team, and even more so if you have different companies that specialize in different issues. And for this reason, Horner recalled that these rules are still very new and the evaluation process for all teams should still mature over the years.

Horner insisted the team was “very confident” in its submission of the expense account in 2021. “We will wait for news from the FIA,” he concluded.