F1, budget cap: from Ferrari a tough new broadside

F1, budget cap: from Ferrari a tough new broadside

Reached by Sky Sport, Ferrari’s Racing Director Laurent Mekies commented on the Fia’s decision on the budget cap issue as follows: “Ferrari put as a priority that the Fia would clarify, it did so by confirming the illegality of the budget cap. It was the most important parameter. Even the team has admitted it, this is positive.”

“On the ‘magnitude of the violation’ we could discuss: we talked a lot and we know that 2 million is a big violation, it’s equivalent to a couple of tenths. These are numbers that have a real impact on racing, it is a figure of some importance. We can never be happy with the penalty. We don’t understand how the 10 percent reduction corresponds to the two-tenths advantage, plus there was no budget cap reduction.”

“They can spend it elsewhere, improving the car. This combination makes us fear that the real effect of the penalty is small. But now we need to turn the page, hopefully we won’t have to wait so long for the 2022 budget cap,” Mekies concluded.

Toto Wolff also had his say: “The most important thing is that the process gave the correct outcome. I cannot say whether the penalty is too heavy or too light, but it is still a penalty. I like the way the FIA operated, so from that point of view I am satisfied,” were the Mercedes team principal’s words.