F1 News

Domenicali wants sporting penalties if budget cap is exceeded

Domenicali: 'Sporting penalties if budget cap is exceeded'

18 July 2023 at 15:21
Last update 18 July 2023 at 15:37
32
  • GPblog.com

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali wants to get rid of monetary sanctions when a team exceeds its budget cap. In an interview with the Italian branch of Motorsport.com, the Italian director makes a case for punishing teams with sporting penalties instead of limited monetary fines. For which teams this will have consequences is currently unknown.

With two races to go before the summer break, the F1 circus seems to be entering a quiet period, but teams' accountants are expected to have a busy time. Motorsport.com has picked up rumours that the teams that have stayed within the budget cap in 2022 will be notified at the end of July. Which teams these are is still unknown, yet there are rumours that as many as three teams have exceeded the cap. Stefano Domenicali cannot and does not want to say anything about this yet, but he does give his views on the sanctions for exceeding.

Domenicali wants sporting sanctions

Whereas teams that exceeded the budget cap in 2021[Red Bull Racing] were still mainly subject to financial sanctions, the Italian F1 director would prefer to see this change. "I would like there to be a sporting penalty for exceeding the budget cap, which is something we [FIA] have been pushing for. In Formula 1, we currently have three types of regulations: the sporting regulations, the technical regulations and the financial regulations. All violations we have to end up punishing with sporting measures, we cannot avoid that," Domenicali said.

Exceeding budget cap Red Bull

It was announced last year that Red Bull Racing was exceeding its budget cap in 2021. At the time, the FIA imposed a 7 million dollar fine on Max Verstappen 's team and less time for developments in the wind tunnel. The consequences of this do not seem to be too bad, given the team's dominance this season.