2021 Cost Cap Rumours and Speculation

[mwillems]

The FIA have made special mention of this being the first time these rules are being applied and whilst it was said in the context of how difficult it is to produce their findings, I suspect the real reason it was mentioned is because it could be given as a reason not too punish RB too harshly this year.

I don't agree with it and I actually feel despondent about F1 hgaving read the news. F1 is about pushing limits but RB seem to want to go further than anyone else and set new benchmarks and not in a positive way. I'd like to see the teams step up and confront the FIA as the sports seems to be totally broken at the moment and it doesn't seem to be a fair place to compete, or even a little bit away from fair. The results and performance are a little bit warped compared to what should be possible and this warped nature seems to be rubber stamped by the current FIA leaders.

I don't even begrudge Verstappen his titles, he's a wonderful driver who will drive in the parameters that are afforded him, but he shouldn't have been afforded those parameters by the FIA or his team. The RB brand and Horner in particular I find really distasteful and quite low.

[Tvetovnato]

I can’t believe this RB statement at all. Wolff and Binotto have been vocal enough that they overspent, how can RB be so ‘surprised’?

Because it was RB who submitted the documents to FIA, not Wolff and Binotto.

Exactly, but we can presume Wolff had his eyes and people go through Red Bull's submission. His insistence on Red Bull being in breach is enough evidence that he played a part in the decision, since Red Bull insist that what they submitted was under the cost cap, but magically through the FIA and with Wolff's influence, that number somehow becomes over the cost cap. Wolff's access to insider information from the FIA is concerning.

Your conspiracy theories are usually amusing, but now they are off the charts completely. What about Binotto in all of this? He must just be Wolff’s puppet right? Wolff must have some leverage on him, some incriminating photos, otherwise Binotto would not have publicly gone out in the exact same manner as Wolff about all of this… yeah.. I see what’s going on… we all do…

[ispano6]

Exactly, but we can presume Wolff had his eyes and people go through Red Bull's submission. His insistence on Red Bull being in breach is enough evidence that he played a part in the decision, since Red Bull insist that what they submitted was under the cost cap, but magically through the FIA and with Wolff's influence, that number somehow becomes over the cost cap. Wolff's access to insider information from the FIA is concerning.

Or as i suspect, Horner was lying through his teeth, and some people just wish to blindly believe whatever he says!

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

[MV8]

Oracle Red Bull Racing is considered to be in Procedural and Minor Overspend Breaches of the Financial Regulations; and Williams Racing has complied with the Financial Regulations in respect of the 2021 Reporting Period with the exception of a previous Procedural Breach in regard to which the Cost Cap Administration entered into an ABA with Williams in May 2022. This Procedural Breach was then remediated by Williams in a timely, cooperative and transparent manner.

This by far the most interesting part, seems they have not rectified the procedural breach like Williams has!

Yeah, I don't know what this exactly means, do you? Could be that they did not submit the files with all the information they needed? dates?

[214270]

Exactly, but we can presume Wolff had his eyes and people go through Red Bull's submission. His insistence on Red Bull being in breach is enough evidence that he played a part in the decision, since Red Bull insist that what they submitted was under the cost cap, but magically through the FIA and with Wolff's influence, that number somehow becomes over the cost cap. Wolff's access to insider information from the FIA is concerning.

Or as i suspect, Horner was lying through his teeth, and some people just wish to blindly believe whatever he says!

Lol if you get the chance go rewatch the interviews Horner gave again; it was pretty obvious he was telling stories.

[dans79]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

[ispano6]

Your conspiracy theories are usually amusing, but now they are off the charts completely. What about Binotto in all of this? He must just be Wolff’s puppet right? Wolff must have some leverage on him, some incriminating photos, otherwise Binotto would not have publicly gone out in the exact same manner as Wolff about all of this… yeah.. I see what’s going on… we all do…

Wolff could have easily tipped Binotto and convinced him to say that a 2021 breach in spending has an affect on 2022 car performance. I find that real rich considering how much spend Mercedes enjoyed up until the cost cap and Ferrari's defacto monetary bonus for just being in the championship, but hey, rules are rules. Nothing in the regulations say that overspend in the 2021 season benefit the 2022 car gains/performance from that. That is just the haters trying to discredit the achievements of Max last and this season.

[codetower]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

Or it could just be that all nine other teams know exactly what it cost to run a Formula One team. I know how much upgrades cost, and transportation costs, and catering costs, and everything else.

[bluechris]

I know 1 thing and this is the budget cap came for a reason which is to help the small teams to catch up the front runner's.
Now i see a winning team to be above the budget cap and that team this year continuously was bringing the biggest updates from all the rest. From what i read from what the other teams say, even half a mil can give you 0.2-03 per lap.
So what now? How this can equalise the gains RB got off this infringement to the other teams? Or we will have 4 more years of RB dominance?

[mendis]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

How many unhappy folks from finance teams would be roaming around in a paddock to spill the beans? TBH, I work for a corporate with multi million transactions and have no clue about what the expenditures are and where they are spending, unless I see a quarterly financial report being made public.

[dans79]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

Or it could just be that all nine other teams know exactly what it cost to run a Formula One team. I know how much upgrades cost, and transportation costs, and catering costs, and everything else.

to an extent, but they wouldn't know the exact details of individual contracts redbull has with its many suppliers.

[ispano6]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

You fail to understand what I'm pointing out here. The submission Red Bull made in March were under the cost-cap, since then the FIA declared that there was a procedural breach and overspend. The persons moving from team to team would have NO knowledge of what the FIA is reviewing and how they are reviewing it. You're just trying to downplay the fact that Wolff has inside information from the FIA, be it about overspend or consideration to allow a 2nd stay that is still illegal according to the technical regulations. Wolff leveraged that information to try and rally Red Bull's direct competitors and went on a defame campaign in the media. Get my drift?

[GrizzleBoy]

I know 1 thing and this is the budget cap came for a reason which is to help the small teams to catch up the front runner's.
Now i see a winning team to be above the budget cap and that team this year continuously was bringing the biggest updates from all the rest. From what i read from what the other teams say, even half a mil can give you 0.2-03 per lap.
So what now? How this can equalise the gains RB got off this infringement to the other teams? Or we will have 4 more years of RB dominance?

The cost cap actually literally stops teams being able to catch up, even if they have the money or not, so overspending becomes even more of an important issue.

[mwillems]

Your conspiracy theories are usually amusing, but now they are off the charts completely. What about Binotto in all of this? He must just be Wolff’s puppet right? Wolff must have some leverage on him, some incriminating photos, otherwise Binotto would not have publicly gone out in the exact same manner as Wolff about all of this… yeah.. I see what’s going on… we all do…

Wolff could have easily tipped Binotto and convinced him to say that a 2021 breach in spending has an affect on 2022 car performance. I find that real rich considering how much spend Mercedes enjoyed up until the cost cap and Ferrari's defacto monetary bonus for just being in the championship, but hey, rules are rules. Nothing in the regulations say that overspend in the 2021 season benefit the 2022 car gains/performance from that. That is just the haters trying to discredit the achievements of Max last and this season.

How is it rich? The spent within the rules when they had that money, then the rules changed and they still spent within the rules. Only one team didn't and they would have almost certainly benefitted from it. Benefits from outside of the rules should be punished, as Horner has consistently called for, so why is it that if you apply Horners logic against Horner, then it is "haters"? Seems to be "fair players" to me.

[Hammerfist]

So if they were rumours, then why would Wolff know anything about it prior to today's announcement? He even said it's the paddock's worst kept secret, so who leaked? Surely not someone from Red Bull. Think about it.

People constantly, move from team to team, and the cost cap ensured that over the last 2 or 3 years that number has skyrocketed. Could be something as simple as an unhappy former RBR employee, spilling the beans to any one of a few thousand people in the paddock. Then just like in any high school the information quickly circulates to anyone interested in hearing it!

Or it could just be that all nine other teams know exactly what it cost to run a Formula One team. I know how much upgrades cost, and transportation costs, and catering costs, and everything else.

Yep, actually before the rumor came out, Binotto was questioning Redbull's massive upgrades earlier this year.
The FIA really needs to stamp down and issue a hefty championship penalty even if this is a "minor breach". If they don't, then noone in their right mind on the paddock is going to respect these rules.