New Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur believes that after the Red Bull controversy in 2022, future cost cap violations in Formula 1 must be dealt with more quickly and severely.
After examining the first year of Formula 1’s financial regulations in 2021, it was found that Red Bull had exceeded the budget ceiling of around $145 million by 1.6 percent, resulting in a $7 million fine and a reduction in aerodynamic testing led by ten percent for twelve months.
In an interview conducted before his move to Ferrari was announced, outgoing Alfa Romeo team boss Vasseur described the cost cap as “by far the best scheme we’ve introduced in Formula 1”.
But he believes it is important to both speed up the process, which has taken ten months from the end of 2021, to have clarity on the certifications and responses on compliance with the cost cap, and to take stricter measures even for minor breaches.
Vasseur: Two million isn’t trivial, it’s “mega”
“What we have to work on today is, firstly, that it took far too long,” says Vasseur. “We have to find a way to have a red light beforehand, or to be able to intervene much earlier.”
“And we probably need to be a bit stricter about the decision. That might have been the first one, but from now on we have to forget the distinction between minor and major. Because to me, two or three million is not minor, it’s mega, for development . I think we have to be much stricter and act much faster.”
The sanction sparked mixed reactions in the Formula 1 paddock. While Red Bull called the penalty “draconian” and “enormous”, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies said the penalty doesn’t go far enough as Red Bull can spend the money saved on aerodynamics testing on other areas.
Vasseur praises head of financial regulations
Although Red Bull denied that the overspending had an impact on the car’s performance, instead citing areas such as catering and payroll that led to the breach, rivals expressed concern that even small overspending could have a big impact on the car race track could have.
Under the Financial Rules, if a team exceeds the cost cap by less than five percent, a minor violation counts, while more than five percent is considered a major violation, which can result in more severe penalties.
FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem has already expressed his hope for a faster solution to the 2023 cost cap review, acknowledging that “it should happen sooner” rather than having teams wait until October to respond to their submissions receive.
Vasseur also commended the FIA’s Head of Financial Regulations, Federico Lodi, and his team for their work in overseeing the first year of the cost cap: “I would say that the cost cap administration and Federico Lodi have done a great job,” said Vasseur . “We shouldn’t forget that.”