How the FIA faces a massive call on cost cap breaches

It’s believed by rivals that two teams, Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin, spent more than last year’s permitted $145million cost cap limit. The former is allegedly a more serious case, given the higher numbers said to be involved, not to mention the fact that Max Verstappen won the world championship for Red Bull.

There has been no confirmation of any breaches from the FIA, and indeed on Friday evening there was a terse statement from the governing body in response to the growing debate on the subject.

“The FIA is currently finalising the assessment of the 2021 financial data submitted by all F1 teams,” it read. “Alleged breaches of the financial regulations, if any, will be dealt with according to the formal process set out in the regulations.

“The FIA notes significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture in relation to this matter, and reiterates that the assessment is ongoing and due process will be followed without consideration to any external discussion.”

In effect, that was FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem laying down a marker to teams calling for stiff penalties – we know what we’re doing, leave us to get on with it.

We should know more in the coming days. Teams that spent below the limit will receive a certificate of compliance, while those that didn’t will face the consequences, starting with a formal hearing.

Make no mistake, this is a huge story, and is seen by some as a major test of Ben Sulayem’s leadership.

Rivals are adamant that anyone who spent more than the limit would have gained a clear advantage not only in 2021 but also as they prepared for the new 2022 regulations, and that the benefits will extend into 2023.

And one could speculate that a team that overspent in 2021 is set to do the same in 2022 if it has been pursuing a particular philosophy or interpretation of the regulations.

“You need to imagine that you have a pool of call it $140million,” Wolff noted on Friday. “If you’re spending five to 10% more than everybody else, that’s many, many tenths of a second.

“We couldn’t reduce our overweight, which is double digit this year, because we simply didn’t have the money to produce the new parts and put them on the car. It wasn’t there. So you’re fighting a totally different league if you have been pushing the limit upwards.”

It was not by…