But what is crystal clear is that while the labelling of Red Bull’s overspend has been officially classified as a “minor” breach, its opposition sees it as anything but a small matter. To be classified as a “minor” offence rather than a “material” one, teams must have overspent by less than 5% of the allowance. […]
Year: 2022
The “kick in the teeth” that proved Mercedes’ deeper F1 car problem
Mercedes struggled with a bouncing issue on its W13 car under the revised technical regulations for 2022 that blighted its early-season form. But after debuting a significant upgrade package in Barcelona, George Russell finished third and Lewis Hamilton recovered to fifth despite a first-lap incident that dropped him to the back of the field, giving […]
Alpine made “wrong choices continuously” with F1 Japanese GP strategy
After the race was resumed following the red flag, drivers soon began to move from wet to intermediate tyres, with most coming in at the end of the second flying lap. With his teammate Ocon coming in on that lap, Alonso was told to stay out so that Alpine wouldn’t have to double-stack him. When […]
Ducati must use ‘Ducati Cup’ advantage to win MotoGP title
Heading into the final three rounds of the season, beginning this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix, five riders are covered by 40 points. PLUS: The unique advantage Ducati must now use to win the 2022 MotoGP title Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo saw his championship lead cut to just two points after a dismal run to […]
Drivers defend Gasly after speeding incident in Japanese GP
The safety car emerged at the end of the first lap following Carlos Sainz’s accident. Gasly had to pit at the end of the lap for a new nose after hitting debris left on track following Sainz’s accident, where the tractor was attending it. The red flag then came out and it was the speed […]
Suzuka F1 penalty was “right” after last-lap Perez fight
Ferrari driver Leclerc found himself coming under increasing pressure from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the battle for second through the closing stages of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. Under braking into the Casio Triangle on the final lap, Leclerc ran deep and cut over the kerbs when rejoining the track ahead of Perez. He crossed […]
Red Bull makes minor F1 cost cap breach, Aston Martin infringes procedural rules
Following intense speculation since the Singapore Grand Prix that two squads had been found to have spent more than the circa $145 million limit in 2021, motor racing’s governing body formally published its findings on Monday. In a statement, it said that all teams had been issued with their compliance certificates apart from Red Bull, […]
What happens now with F1’s cost cap rule breakers?
But rather than this being the end of a process that has already been under the spotlight for a while, what happens next is potentially more intriguing as the governing body moves towards potential punishments. The matter looks almost certain to be drawn out though, with F1’s Financial Regulations explicit in the formal process that […]
How did Verstappen win the title? F1’s points confusion explained
The red flag delays for heavy rain meant we only got 28 laps of racing action at Suzuka before the three-hour time limit expired, with Verstappen crossing the line first. It was only in parc ferme he found out he was champion when the FIA handed Charles Leclerc a post-race penalty – yet most thought […]
Red Bull ‘surprised, disappointed’ at F1 cost cap breach verdict
After some delay, the FIA announced on Monday afternoon that Red Bull had breached F1’s financial regulations with a “minor overspend” of the $145m dollar 2021 cost cap, while Aston Martin and Williams were deemed to be in procedural breach of the rules. Following the announcement, Red Bull expressed its “surprise and disappointment” at the […]