Max Verstappen’s first chance for the title in the Formula 1 World Championship in Suzuka will be followed by the second next Sunday (7 a.m. CEST, ServusTV live). The Dutchman can only do it on his own if he wins the 18th of 22 rounds in Japan and also sets the fastest lap. Then Leclerc would not be enough to postpone the World Cup decision again. But before that, things will get exciting away from the racetrack.
The allegations against Red Bull that emerged last week weigh heavily: Did the racing team overspend more than $7 million in the previous season and thus gain an advantage? In line with this, the world motorsport association FIA could already publish a final report on the eagerly awaited cost cap review.
The FIA faces several problems with sanctions. On the one hand, there is no fixed catalog of penalties, on the other hand, tact is required. The association will probably not want to create a precedent according to which racing teams already know what (fine) penalties they have to reckon with if they exceed the cost limit by a certain percentage. Sums of up to five million dollars are considered a “minor rule violation” and could only be punished with a fine. In the case of more serious offenses, harder steps up to a subsequent point deduction are conceivable.
The investigative commission was faced with the difficult task of having to unravel some rather obscure company structures. This circumstance could be one of the reasons why Red Bull assumes that they have complied with all the rules. The report was actually supposed to be published in the spring, but the date had to be postponed several times. And here comes the next challenge: will the FIA allow the result to be called into question more than ten months after the end of the season? Maybe even Max Verstappen loses his title or has to worry about it? That would be very difficult to sell to the public. A penalty that is too lax is likely to attract imitators. “This case will be a real endurance test for the system,” said Ferrari’s deputy team boss Laurent Mekies in a nutshell.
Source: Nachrichten
