As Motorsport.com has learned, the FIA has informed the teams that their analysis of the financial accounts for the 2021 season has been completed and that they are almost ready to publish these documents.
As part of the process that F1 adopted to control the expenses of the different teams, the international federation will send on October 5 a “compliance” certificate of the budget cap to all the teams that closed the course below the cost limit. of around 145 million euros last year.
However, any team that has exceeded said spending limit will be subject to a new hearing through which the sanctions stipulated in the regulations will be imposed.
The FIA’s ruling on the budget cap is final, as the financial regulations state that “there will be no right of appeal against any decision by the Cost Cap Administration after issuing a certificate to an F1 team”.
Although the FIA has not commented on whether any team has breached the 2021 financial regulations, several paddock sources believe two teams are at high risk of not being awarded a certificate “of compliance”.
It is believed that one of those two teams may have committed a minor offence, while the other may have committed a more serious offence.
Although all information from the paddock indicates that the two teams involved are Aston Martin and Red Bull, both teams have remained silent on the matter.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner declined to comment when contacted by Motorsport.com, while Aston Martin said only that they were in negotiations with the governing body.
A spokesman for the Silverstone team said: “We have already submitted our report for 2021. We are in discussions with the FIA, and are awaiting certification.
Amid some complaints about the need for further revisions to last year’s cost cap, the governing body said the matter would be taken up in due course.
“The FIA is finalizing the assessment of the 2021 financial data submitted by all Formula 1 teams. Alleged breaches of the financial regulations, if any, will be dealt with as set out in the regulations,” a spokesman said.
The regulation of the highest category of motorsport establishes different punishment options for teams that have violated the cost limit.
In the case of a minor infraction, which supposes an excess of less than 5% spending, the penalty can be a public reprimand, the removal of points in the constructors’ classification or even in the drivers’ classification, the exclusion of some events, adding some extra restrictions in the aerodynamic tests of said team or an economic fine.
A more serious overspend, which is considered to be greater than 5%, includes stricter penalties.
These are: reduction of more points in the drivers’ or constructors’ championship, exclusion from events, limiting aerodynamic tests, excluding a team from the championship or a future reduction of the budget cap.
