‘Breaching the cost cap is aking to cheating’: Martin Brundle under blast by F1 Twitter for suggesting Red Bull’s ‘minor’ cost cap breach ‘no great crime’
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Yesterday, Red Bull were confirmed to have breached the cost cap and were found to have committed a ‘procedural breach’ and a ‘minor overspend’ breach of the financial regulations. A minor breach is considered to be a breach less than 5 percent over the cost cap. As it is a minor breach, severe penalties such as disqualification from the championship are not expected.
As per Sky Sports, Martin Brundle thinks that is ‘absolutely crazy’: “What seems absolutely crazy to me is that a minor breach can be up to five per cent overspend on the cost cap. That is $7m and we know that is a massive upgrade on a car, maybe even a B-spec for some teams. So, that needs tightening up for starters, because what is the point in having $145m and then having this five per cent variant?”
The team are reported to have overspent around 1.8 million over the cost cap, to which Brundle states: “It’s not, it appears, the great crime we were being told by other team principals in Singapore. We now await the news. I am assuming that the FIA will have to crack down hard on any minor breaches but it looks like it could be a reprimand or a fine.”
The Briton further wondered how hard the FIA will go on this breach: “Will they want to revisit points, will it be manufacturers’ points or drivers’ points for 2021? How hard do the FIA want to be on this?” but fans have picked up on Brundle considering the breach to not be a great crime, and they aren’t pleased.
A fan to Martin Brundle: “Even if it’s 1-2 million that’s lap time,”
Soon after the FIA announced the breaches, Red Bull also announced their intention to review the FIA’s findings. The reception to that was also rather mixed, and the reception to Martin Brundle calling the ‘minor’ breach ‘no great crime’ has also been mixed, but bordering on the negative side.
One fan even compared it to taking performance-enhancing drugs. 2021 was an incredibly closely-contested season, especially in the WDC at the end, with both the WCC and the WDC being decided in the last race at Abu Dhabi, with Max Verstappen winning out in a controversial fashion. Debates still rage on about that race.
There had earlier been (and there still are) calls that the result of the WDC should be changed, because if the overspend contributed to car performance, it directly affected both championships.
However, there is some precedent that the WDC is not affected. In 2007, following the Spygate scandal, McLaren were disqualified from the WCC, but Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton still competed in the Driver’s championship.
But some think that as drivers (may) directly benefit from an overspend or a breach of the rules, that championship should be included as well.
In this argument, any agreements between the two sides are going to be hard to come by. It’s proof that the events in Abu Dhabi still carry a great toll on supporters’ hearts. However, the FIA is unlikely to be affected by the pressure from the media and from fans. The penalty should definitely caution teams against any future breaches.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)