It is difficult to find a subject in which the teams that are called to play the Formula 1 World Cup coincide.
That the discourse of Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari is practically the same on a matter of capital relevance in the sporting future of the season is a clear indication of the magnitude of the issue.
The three teams with the most muscle in the contest have been sending warning signs to the bodies that govern the championship for some time, which last year introduced the budget limit that regulates the amount of money that each structure can invest over a year.
For this 2022, the authorized bag was 139 million euros, less than a third of what Mercedes, for example, spent in 2019. With the passing of the grand prizes, the alarm signals became more acute as that the levels of inflation escalated, and with it also the fixed expenses, such as airplanes, components or energy.
In reaction, the F1 Commission met this Friday at the Red Bull Ring and agreed to increase that cap by 3.1%, to 143 million euros.
As almost always, Red Bull is the one who resorts to the least seasoned language so that its message provokes the reaction that interests the red buffalo troop.
"That increase [of 3.1%] is not enough for us [the big teams] and it's too much for the small ones," reacted immediately Christian Horner, his director, who 10 days earlier had been much cruder in the predictions of the.
“It would be a real catastrophe if employees were the worst off for something beyond their control.
There is a moral issue that needs to be taken into account,” he pointed out.
At Ferrari they have been warning for months that none of the three main formations will be able to reach the last appointment, in Abu Dhabi (November 20), without having violated the economic border established by the regulations.
"I am convinced that at some point we will overcome that barrier," commented Mattia Binotto, the head of the
Scuderia
, at the end of May.
This situation has forced racing departments to reconsider their strategy in revitalizing their prototypes.
Before, Monaco, to name the most universal event of all, required a specific configuration, and a package of parts that was only used by the slides of Monte Carlo.
In this 2022 edition, most of the teams were limited to getting their cars to twist through the narrow slides of the Principality, but the number of new aerodynamic components introduced was much lower than usual.
The sanctions, a nebula
What happens is that all that clarity of the regulations regarding the money that the teams can allocate to compete pales until it disappears when one tries to find out the sanctions stipulated for those who break the law.
Although there is a 5% tolerance on those 139 million euros that would be a minor fault, everything that happens from there is part of an indefinite nebula.
According to the regulation, the offender of this first assumption (minor cause) would be applied "a fine of an economic nature, which will depend on each case, or a minimum sports sanction."
That in the least abusive transgression, since whoever goes too far out of line risks losing points in the Constructors' World Championship, or even being excluded from the championship.
Leaving such a sensitive matter so open to interpretation definitely turns it into a nitroglycerin folder capable of exploding at any moment.
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