F1 budget cap: Fernando Alonso against the tide, dig at Ferrari

Fernando Alonso is among the few defending Red Bull

Fernando Alonso is among the few circuit personalities defending Red Bull after the Austrian team’s budget cap violation last season.

While many are calling for exemplary punishment, Alonso in an interview with the BBC is more forgiving: “The cost cap is new, but there have always been gray areas that could be explored. Those who have won championships have always done so by exploiting a gray area. Other teams then copy and get to that level, or that thing that was allowed for a couple of races is then banned. That’s the nature of F1.”

Alonso does not believe that penalties should be excessive: “I can’t remember a champion team that didn’t exploit some element that caught the other teams by surprise. Brawn GP, Red Bull in 2012 and the dominance of Mercedes. Ferrari won two races in 2019 with something that everyone knew was not legal, and nothing happened. Those two wins stayed. Imagine if they had won the world championship with that engine. In the end, I trust the people who have the power. I am just a pilot.”