the FIA ​​proposes to negotiate. What happens – Corriere.it

These are intense days in Formula 1, racing in Austin on the circuit of the Americas: Max Verstappen’s World Championship already, Red Bull also close to conquering the constructors’ title. All you need to do is earn 18 points on the Ferrari. But the team of Christian Horner in the storm for exceeding the budget cap of 2021. The opponents are united in demanding severe penalties, from McLaren to Mercedes passing through Ferrari.

Hamilton, the most affected by the story – he lost the 2021 championship on the last lap of Abu Dhabi – said that the discovery of the Red Bull infraction brought back emotions he thought were buried. And he recalled: My team got a $ 25,000 fine for wearing a nose piercing, so I think the FIA ​​men will make the right decisions. The problem is that the effects of the infringement may have altered not only last year’s results, but could also affect this season as well. Spending millions more and getting away with light punishment would be bad for this sport. Verstappen on the other hand defends his team (I’m sure they did everything in order, there are only different interpretations) and talks about maneuvers orchestrated by rivals to try to slow us down.

However, Red Bull is with its back to the wall. The FIA ​​offered him the opportunity to settle through a procedure called Accepted Breach Agreement. In essence, it is a question of admitting one’s guilt, avoiding heavier penalties, such as the deduction of points from the championship, giving up for the appeal. In addition, it will have to undergo a stricter regime of controls. So far the only existing ABA case involved a $ 25,000 fine to Williams for failing to comply with the procedural rules on filing financial regulation documents.

Vices of form, incomparable to the infringement committed by Red Bull, the only one among the ten teams in F1 to spend more than allowed. Even under a plea bargain it is possible to punish in a severe way for F1: ranging from the suspension for one or more races, to the reduction of the budget cap for the following year equal to or greater than the overrun (in this case we are talking about an extra of less than two million), to the limitation of tests in wind tunnel and CFD. The rivals are pressing for this last point to be applied in a decisive way, the number one of McLaren Zak Brown he invoked 20% less.

If so, Red Bull in 2023 it would have serious development problems. Perhaps this is why Horner would not have been so happy with the proposed settlement presented by the feds and the negotiations have lengthened. President Mohammed Ben Sulayem – that in this match the credibility of the body he manages and also that of F1 is at stake – he postponed a meeting with the English team principal scheduled for yesterday by postponing a press conference scheduled by Red Bull. By fueling the expectation and speculation, not for the verdict (for that it will take more time), but for an agreement that, in any case, will create a precedent and cause discussion. Closing it with a watered down sentence would risk doing great damage to the entire Formula 1. The only meeting that took place this Friday in Austin was the one between the team principals, F1 for a film about racing in the making. Binotto, Wolff, Horner and the others spoke to Brad Pitt, director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

In the afternoon, the Federation published the results of the investigation on the Suzuka GP, admitting procedural errors in the management of the rescue vehicles (the tractors on the track that were not supposed to enter so early) and presenting a series of measures to prevent them from happening again. But there is also another news, the end of the alternation between race directors: in the races that remain from here to Abu Dhabi in Race Control there will always be Niels Wittich. Sounds like a disguised dismissal for Eduardo Freitas, the Portuguese race director who was in Suzuka.