Well well well we finally have our answer to the rumours that started floating around the paddock at the Singapore Grand Prix. The FIA revealed that on Monday the Austrian outfit had breached the cost cap of $145 million but the punishment for exceeding it hasn't been released. They were less than the 5% needed for the punishment to be deemed as a major breach which would have carried heavier penalties compared to a minor breach.
Aston Martin was also found to have committed a procedural breach but was cleared of any overspending. The British outfit believes that they gained no competitive advantage. It would also appear that the breach is referring to the number of accounting protocols that were used and a result of a variety of interpreting the rules. This is something that the FIA will have to be down hard on as it would leave a grey area for rival teams to have unlimited spending.
The possible penalties for a minor breach are as followed:
Deduction of Drivers and Constructors Championship points
Suspension from one or more stages of a competition
Limitations on the ability to conduct aerodynamic or other testing
Reduction of the Cost Cap
The possible penalties for a major breach are as followed:
Deduction of Drivers and Constructors' Championship points
Suspension from one or more stages of a competition
Suspension from an entire competition
Exclusion from the championship
Reduction of the Cost Cap
So what's next for Red Bull and Aston Martin?
As per the regulations, Red Bull has one of two decisions accept an Accepted Breach Agreement or go to a hearing with the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel. Williams Racing was in breach of a procedural when they had to send off their account records and agreed to the ABA and was fined $25000 but it would be a heftier punishment should the team agree to it.
The way that a Cost Cap Adjudication Panel works is that there a between six and 12 judges selected by the FIA General Assembly who will hear from representatives. Once the hearing is finished the judges would have to reach a majority verdict on whether the party IE Red Bull and Aston Martin are guilty or not. Should a majority verdict not be agreed on then the nominated president has the final say.
Should a team still not be happy with the outcome of that hearing then they have the right to go for a further appeal at the FIA's International Court of Appeal and with that comes the end of the debate if, of course, we get that far.
What are the responses?
To no surprise, Red Bull was quick to offer a statement following the FIA announcement which in short stated that they were surprised and disappointed with the outcome. Since the rumours first started making the rounds in the paddock team principal Christian Horner was always indicating that the team was under the budget cap (as you would expect) but time will tell who is in the right given we've seen plenty of times the FIA go back on a decision.
"Our submission, we believe, is fully compliant with the regulations. It has to be signed off by our auditors way back in March, which was done,"
Aston Martin on the other hand is yet to release a statement.
What should happen?
Given that for Red Bull it was only a minor breach, a reduction of the Cost Cap and limitations on the ability to conduct aerodynamic and/or testing, seems to come across as a slap in the face to both the fans and the teams. It would effectively send the message of building a fast race car, winning a championship, and getting let off lightly. You can't deduct points from Red Bull as they finished in second place behind Mercedes and 262 points ahead of Ferrari, do you then disqualify them from the constructor's championship?
Then comes the question of what happens to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. both have benefitted from driving a car that ultimately broke the rules. As harsh as it would be to strip him of the championship, they certainly gained a lot from that RB16B. Whatever happens, you know two things are for certain, Mercedes and Ferrari are going to be pushing for the strongest penalty possible which could bring questions into the 2022 season, and secondly, this will end up messy for the teams involved and for the sport.
For Aston Martin, they will probably get slapped with a fine just like Williams did which would probably be the fairest punishment. Aston would be silly to reject the ABA given that they can use the Williams situation as a base foundation for their defence.
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