F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Speaks Out On Red Bull Cost Cap Breach - "I do think the sport needs to do something"

The Mercedes driver speaks out for the first time since it was confirmed to have overspent in 2021.

It's been reported that the FIA has given Red Bull their response over the cost cap breach after it was confirmed the Austrian team did indeed exceed the set budget during the 2021 F1 season. 

Categorised as a "procedural and minor overspend", it's believed that it was less than a 5% overspend, but fans of the sport are still wondering what the punishment will be for the team and potentially its drivers. 

Yesterday, BBC's Andrew Benson updated us on the situation between the FIA and Red Bull:

"The FIA has made an offer to Red Bull for the terms of an 'accepted breach agreement' for them breahcing the cost cap. Details, as with all issues on the matter, are confidential for now.

"Now Red Bull have to decide whether to accept or go before an adjudication panel."

Following this confirmation that Red Bull exceeded the cost cap, Mercedes driver and 7-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton commented on this:

“I do think the sport needs to do something about this,” said the British driver.

“Otherwise, if it’s quite relaxed, if they’re relaxed with these rules, then all the teams will just go over.

“And spending millions more and then only having a slap on the wrist is obviously not going to be great for the sport. They might as well not have a cost cap for the future [in that case].”

Like many fans, Hamilton also wants F1 to be transparent in its way of going about enforcing these rules, adding that it should be“true to the values of the sport and the regulations that were put there to be policed.”

“I think it can be a confusing time for fans,” Hamilton told the press.

“Without the fans, the sport is nothing. So yeah. I think we’ve just got to hold on to those values.”

This weekend at the Austin GP will see Mercedes bringing a their final upgrade to the W13, and while team chief Toto Wolff is excited to bring more performance to the car, he doesn't expect that it will "drastically change” the performance of the team as a whole so close to the end of the season.