A modest budget cap breach could have been enough to change the outcome of Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 world championship.
The FIA is preparing to issue certificates of compliance to Formula 1 teams that have complied with the $145 million spending cap first introduced last year. However, it has been extended from Wednesday to Monday with the announcement that more than one team is expected to not stay within the limit.
Reports suggest that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen may not have completed his championship win after beating Hamilton by eight points last year. Team principal Christian Horner has repeatedly insisted that the data they have submitted to the FIA shows they are within cost limits.
However, Hamilton said Red Bull made more improvements than Mercedes in the second half of last season. He believes the championship result would have been different if the team had been able to spend more on their car.
“I remember last year at Silverstone we made the last improvement and luckily it was very good and we could fight with him,” he told Sky. But we see Red Bull making updates every weekend or so. I think they had at least four more updates from that point.
“If we had spent 300,000 on a new floor or a fixed wing, it would have changed the outcome of the championship, because we would have been in better competition the next race you have. So I hope that’s not the case for the sport.
A “minor violation” of the financial regulation is defined as an overspend of up to 5%, which was $7.25 million in 2021.
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Last year’s world championship ended in controversy when FIA F1 race director Michael Massi failed to follow the rules when arranging for a restart at the end of the season. The FIA, under president Mohamed Ben Sulayem, publicly acknowledged the mistake, replacing Massi in the role and making other changes to race management.
Hamilton said he was confident that Ben Suleiman would handle the budget cap controversy fairly and transparently. “I believe Mohamed and the FIA will do the right thing with what they know,” he said. “This is where we should have faith.”
The FIA has criticized its handling of past controversies. In the year Before Ben Sulaiman replaced Jean Todt as head of the federation in 2020, he reached a private deal with Ferrari after an investigation into the legality of the team’s F1 power unit.
“Transparency is always very important,” Hamilton said. “Especially with fans who follow and travel around the world.
“It’s important for all of us, the people who work, the thousands of people who work, I think it’s important to have transparency in the organization and accountability is always something that we really have to deal with.
“Over the years, we have seen things being handled behind the scenes of the sport. I don’t think this is the new way with Muhammad. I think that loyalty is very important for F1 as it is with the new management at the moment. So I think we have good people in place. I hope we get the right administration.
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2022 Japanese Grand Prix
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