Photo: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
The FIA is getting ready to make a major announcement tomorrow, October 5, regarding which teams truly adhered to the cost cap last year and which went over. During this past weekend in Singapore, speculation ran rampant about how one team might have gone over the cap just a little while another exceeded the limit by a lot.
Those teams are Aston Martin and Red Bull, although neither has looked particularly worried about any possible findings, insisting that the FIA had not previously informed them of any cost cap issues.
Now, if say a 5% overspend is thought to be just a “minor” breach, teams like Ferrari feel differently, claiming that gains made from being able to spend just a few more million dollars can be enormous, as reported by Motorsport.
“It’s definitely a shame that we are talking about it in October of the following season, because at this point, apart from implications on last year’s championship, there are also implications for the current one,” said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto during a recent interview with Sky Italia.
“Let’s wait until Wednesday before making a judgement but, whatever amount we are talking about, it’s important to understand that even if it is four million, which falls into the category of what is considered a minor breach, four million is not minor.”
“For us, four million represents the development parts for an entire season. Four million means 70 people in a technical department who can come up with and produce solutions that could be worth up to half a second a lap.”
He then went on to say that a half-second per lap advantage could be carried forward into subsequent seasons, so even though the cap may have been breached in 2021, certain teams could still benefit from a competitive advantage in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff feels similarly about it, stating that even a minor breach could still have a big impact.
Now, if say a 5% overspend is thought to be just a “minor” breach, teams like Ferrari feel differently, claiming that gains made from being able to spend just a few more million dollars can be enormous, as reported by Motorsport.
“It’s definitely a shame that we are talking about it in October of the following season, because at this point, apart from implications on last year’s championship, there are also implications for the current one,” said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto during a recent interview with Sky Italia.
“Let’s wait until Wednesday before making a judgement but, whatever amount we are talking about, it’s important to understand that even if it is four million, which falls into the category of what is considered a minor breach, four million is not minor.”
“For us, four million represents the development parts for an entire season. Four million means 70 people in a technical department who can come up with and produce solutions that could be worth up to half a second a lap.”
He then went on to say that a half-second per lap advantage could be carried forward into subsequent seasons, so even though the cap may have been breached in 2021, certain teams could still benefit from a competitive advantage in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff feels similarly about it, stating that even a minor breach could still have a big impact.
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