An alert regarding the budget ceiling being exceeded?
Recently, the Formula 1 paddock has been buzzing with rumors about teams that may have exceeded the budget cap. Red Bull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin could be the teams in question.
Last year, Red Bull was sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation for exceeding the 2021 budget cap by $2.1 million. As a reminder, last year, the budget cap was set at 140 million euros. This was intended to bring all the teams closer together and avoid significant disparities.
In 2023, rumors are circulating about possible budget cap breaches by several teams for the year 2022. Although these are just rumors, it is highly likely that some teams have exceeded the budget for the year 2022, a year of new regulations.
Thus, the three teams that could be concerned are once again Red Bull, but also Mercedes and Aston Martin. These rumors surfaced at the same time that grid teams received a message from the FIA validating their accounts and therefore validating their spending below the budget cap. However, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin have not yet received any commitment from the FIA. Is the Federation taking its time, or should a deeper investigation be carried out because some elements are not clear? Nobody knows the answer. Regarding Aston Martin, the construction of the new factory in Silverstone could be the cause. At Red Bull, there needs to be clarification regarding Helmut Marko’s salary, which is not considered one of the team’s top three salaries and therefore not protected by the budget cap.
However, these are just rumors and the FIA is continuing to study each team’s budgets. The results should be published at the end of the summer, earlier than last year. It is only at that time that the rumors can potentially be verified. In the meantime, the FIA has preferred to clarify things.
FIA calms things down
« We would like to remind about the ongoing process preceding the certification in financial regulation for the teams, none of which have been notified of their certification status yet, as mentioned by the FIA, before reminding that « The on-site audit work is still ongoing and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, after which a period will be necessary to finalize the review. » The investigation is ongoing.
On his side, Stefano Domenicali, president of Formula 1, had declared wanting sporting sanctions in case of exceeding the budget cap. « I would like the penalty to be sporting in case of violation, it’s something we have requested very clearly. There are three regulations to respect: sporting, technical, and financial. Any infringement must be punished by sporting measures. We cannot go in other directions », he explained.
More details should arrive during the summer and in the month of September. Until then, it’s just rumors.
