2021 Cost Cap Rumours and Speculation

[Just_a_fan]

I have a feeling this will be an, "announcement of an announcement" type thing and not provide any solid information to anybody on any side.

Yep, called it.

I think I'll make another call and say the budget cap is already a failure.

Either a few teams have done something outside the intended scope and the FIA will accept.

Or they won't accept but make the penalties so inconsequential that makes the reward outweigh the risk.

If everyone was in compliance all the certificates would have been sent today as planned.

If there was an intention to hold anyone to account they would either serve or not serve penalties and allow appeals and whatever later as all deadlines have now passed.

So far as can be deduced, 8 teams are in compliance and 2 teams are not. I think that's fairly clear to everyone no matter what their fan associations might be. The issue is whether the levels of non-compliance are such that those teams could be considered to have "cheated" and thus should be excluded for the title. That's nuke-level stuff. If teams have been well over the budget allowance and are allowed to win anyway, then the budget cap is effectively null and void and the teams will just go off and spend what they want because there will be precedent allowing them to do so.

Either the cap is there and it is rigidly enforced or it's not there at all. It's a binary situation. They can't have it any other way really.

[Gillian]

From a RBR insider. The administrator of the Max Verstappen site:

"Nothing is coming out today (from the FIA) about the budget cap. That will be after the weekend at the earliest."
.

Oh that's a bummer. Would have been nice to get it all cleared up. If Red Bull has overspend as much as rumours suggest they should be punished. I personally don't believe it. For me it feels like this is all politics to overshadow another championship title win by Verstappen. I have seen zero evidence yet but a lot of speculation.

I think it should be out in the open. The FIA needs to be transparent on this subject if it is to have any trust from the sport going forward. If a team has breached the budget cap then hit them hard and move on. If it affects a title then so be it - a title secured with a large budget excess is a title gained illegally and thus is void. All they are doing by not announcing it is leaving the sport to carry on with rumours and chatter rather than concentrating on the sport and the possibility of a title being decided this weekend. They are overshadowing any possible title wins this weekend, especially if they are then going to announce punishments that might take that title away, even if just for a few more weeks (a points deduction, for example, would do that and would change the dynamic for the rest of the season). Typical FIA, really.

Yes I couldn't agree more. It really is typical FIA unfortunately.

[214270]

First reputable source - minor breaches only:

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... 021-limits

[taperoo2k]

If teams have overspent, then they should face the consequences for that. If it's a minor breach? Lose points and wind tunnel time etc. If a team has massively overspent? That can only mean one thing - exclusion from both championships for that season alongside restrictions on CFD and wind tunnel time for the following season. Harsh but there is no other way to ensure teams stick to the cost cap. If the FIA fail to do any of that for breaches? The FIA to borrow a British civil service phrase would be no longer fit for purpose.

Overspending on the cost cap is cheating, given teams that do it will have an unfair advantage over the rest. I don't do tribal nonsense when it comes to F1, so this isn't an attack on Max or Red Bull. I want to see the best drivers and teams competing on a level playing field.

[taperoo2k]

That's probably why the FIA have delayed the release of the certificates for compliance.

[Just_a_fan]

First reputable source - minor breaches only:

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... 021-limits

Not sure Sky is "reputable". They don't actually give any evidence other than "Sky understands". Does that mean they've spoken to the FIA and someone has given them inside info or is it briefing from a team?

[Just_a_fan]

That's probably why the FIA have delayed the release of the certificates for compliance.

The first part of that quotes the FIA saying the investigation is still ongoing. That suggests there are still discussions and appeals going on behind closed doors.

Sadly, the FIA does this every time and just ends up making it all look very dodgy. It's not difficult - don't announce you're going to say something until you actually have something to say. Don't say "we'll make an announcement" and then say "we're not ready to announce anything yet". Total amateurs.

[mendis]

That's probably why the FIA have delayed the release of the certificates for compliance.

The first part of that quotes the FIA saying the investigation is still ongoing. That suggests there are still discussions and appeals going on behind closed doors.

Sadly, the FIA does this every time and just ends up making it all look very dodgy. It's not difficult - don't announce you're going to say something until you actually have something to say. Don't say "we'll make an announcement" and then say "we're not ready to announce anything yet". Total amateurs.

Investigation? FIA statement doesn't allude to any such thing. "The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process".

[Just_a_fan]

That's probably why the FIA have delayed the release of the certificates for compliance.

The first part of that quotes the FIA saying the investigation is still ongoing. That suggests there are still discussions and appeals going on behind closed doors.

Sadly, the FIA does this every time and just ends up making it all look very dodgy. It's not difficult - don't announce you're going to say something until you actually have something to say. Don't say "we'll make an announcement" and then say "we're not ready to announce anything yet". Total amateurs.

Investigation? FIA statement doesn't allude to any such thing.

In the case of the budget cap, the FIA is investigating whether any of the teams have breached the cap and they are doing that by analysing their financial returns.

But if it makes you happy, yes, the FIA said their "analysis [...] is ongoing".

None of which changes the central point of my post which is that the FIA's way of dealing with this has been terrible because they said they would make an announcement only to then announce they weren't ready to say anything.

[taperoo2k]

That's probably why the FIA have delayed the release of the certificates for compliance.

The first part of that quotes the FIA saying the investigation is still ongoing. That suggests there are still discussions and appeals going on behind closed doors.

Sadly, the FIA does this every time and just ends up making it all look very dodgy. It's not difficult - don't announce you're going to say something until you actually have something to say. Don't say "we'll make an announcement" and then say "we're not ready to announce anything yet". Total amateurs.

Investigation? FIA statement doesn't allude to any such thing. "The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process".

Technically speaking it is an investigation, all be it an audit undertaken by forensic accountants to discover if teams have complied with the budget cap rules or not.

[chrisc90]

So they still investigating. I wonder which team bosses will bring it up in media interviews in Japan. Quite clear than nobody other than the FIA and the team concerned, know about the investigation regarding their finances.

[Unc1eM0nty]

Yes it's a complex process, but it's one they started back in March with a set publication date, so why then the sudden hold up?

As mentioned above it looks dodgy, I suspect there are team/s in breach of the cap, and that the delay is deciding on what (if any) penalty they should dish out.

[mendis]

The first part of that quotes the FIA saying the investigation is still ongoing. That suggests there are still discussions and appeals going on behind closed doors.

Sadly, the FIA does this every time and just ends up making it all look very dodgy. It's not difficult - don't announce you're going to say something until you actually have something to say. Don't say "we'll make an announcement" and then say "we're not ready to announce anything yet". Total amateurs.

Investigation? FIA statement doesn't allude to any such thing. "The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process".

Technically speaking it is an investigation, all be it an audit undertaken by forensic accountants to discover if teams have complied with the budget cap rules or not.

When did FIA say the forensic accountants are working on the matter, that represents a form of "investigation"?

[e30ernest]

This is odd because they said they'd announce this today, so it would have meant the analysis was supposed to be done.

The retraction and subsequent extension to Monday indicate that someone was unhappy with the result. So at best, a recheck is being made and at worst, a deal is being struck.

[Stu]

If that’s what brawn’s says will happen then why are there multiple different penalties for a minor and major breach?

Most likely to create uncertainty in the mind of the teams, and to provide flexibility depending on the nature of the breach.

Two examples:
1) Two teams on the budget cap limit are in a tight battle at the end of the season, and one team decides to implement two upgrades worth 1.4-million / 1% because the defined penalty for such a breach is worth it to potentially win a constructors placing.
2) A team might just have screwed up and gone over by 1.4-million for less underhand reasons.

I don't think people would want the above examples treated the same for penalties, and therefore some flexibility is needed.

Sporting code penalties are for the breach, not the consequences of the breach.