F1 CEO Admits He Is "More Than Nervous" About Cost Cap Breaches As The 2022 Budgets Are Processed
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has spoken out on the cost cap, saying that he is "more than nervous" for the 2022 budgets to come in.
The cost cap saga flooded headlines last year when Red Bull was found to have exceeded the budget cap in 2021. The Austrian team were handed a $7 million penalty as well as a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time for the 2023 season. However, many thought that punishment was not enough to deter teams from doing it again.
Aston Martin was also found to have exceeded the cost cap but only with a minor breach. The Silverstone-based squad had to pay a fine of $450,000.
Domenicali explained that he is nervous about the budgets during an interview with Sky Sports. He said:
“I’m more than nervous. I’m pretty sure that everyone understands now what the effect is if there is a breach, and I totally agree that the focus on this will actually be very big.
“I think that is a point of attention mainly for the credibility and to check if everyone is respecting that rule, but [it] has to be done earlier than later.”
The budgets were submitted by the teams on March 31 and the Cost Cap Administration is working on them in the background. Criticisms arose last year over the amount of time it took to find out who had breached the cost cap and again for the punishment decision to be made.
Domenicali continued:
“We are discussing and this is on the FIA’s side to make sure that the control and the certification will be done much earlier because the effect, if some teams will be over it, has to be done in a proper way in as short a time as possible to be more credible.
“We see other sports that are tackling the financial regulation with, in my opinion, too long a time for a reaction – and this is not good.”