Red Bull Racing is suspected of breaching the new budget cap in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton was not surprised. A year ago, he felt that the strongest competitors in the restroom were offering more money than was vaguely allowed.
– I know I thought “Oh my God,” he says.
Over the past year, a budget cap has been introduced in F1 to regulate the stables’ expenses, and many large stables have reduced staff and had to refrain from updates in order to stay within budget. The teams submitted their statements this year to the FIA, but rumors started last weekend that two teams had blown the budget cap. The FIA was supposed to release last year’s figures on Wednesday, but postponed them until Monday.
Something that makes Lewis Hamilton react.
– Honestly, it’s embarrassing, he says regarding the Japan Grand Prix.
– I think we, the fans and the sport, must continue to be transparent. I don’t know much about it, but there is a lot of conversation going on in the background. Nobody knows exactly what is going on. There are different numbers and they say different things here and there. I was expecting the result to come and I would like to believe there is a delay as this is taken very seriously. I have great confidence in Mohamed (Ben Sulayem, FIA President), that he takes it very seriously and does what is right and right for the sport.
Hamilton’s doubts against Red Bull
However, Hamilton is not surprised that it is precisely Red Bull that is said to have spent more money than the budget cap would allow.
– I remember last year I asked for more and more updates. We got our latest update in Silverstone, it gave us three tenths and cost us a million. I would have needed more updates in the fight for the World Cup title, Hamilton is quoted by Motorsport-total.com.
– Then I saw their trucks, there were new updates all the time. I just thought, “Oh my God, it might be hard to beat them in the title race because they get updates all the time.”
Hamilton continues:
– It was important for the development of the car to be able to spend half a million more. Then we were in a different situation and were able to develop a new floor. It was easy to do, but it wouldn’t have stayed within the rules of the game.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull claim the rumors are unfounded and that the team stayed within budget in 2021 as well.
The FIA has not yet announced whether there will be any penalty for a team over budget and what that penalty could mean.
Short news before Japan GP
On this week’s Plattan i Mattan, we talk about the Singapore Grand Prix and the top of the Japan Grand Prix, we talk about rumors, and you’ll also hear the question that made Nico Hulkenberg say the following words to me:
– I can tell you that, but then I have to kill you.
If you want a written guide to the Japan GP weekend, you can find it here, and you can find all times for the Formula 1 Japan GP here.
Is it raining this weekend? According to the forecast, the weather is expected to be cloudy, but there will be a break on Saturday. On Sunday, however, there is a risk of rain during the Japan Grand Prix.
This weekend, you can of course catch the F1 training sessions live. During qualifying and races, I provide live comments, videos and photos from social media. see you soon?