Red Bull and Aston Martin, in the eye of the hurricane for having exceeded the spending limit during the past season. “The comments from Mercedes and Ferrari are unacceptable and defamatory,” says Horner.
The storm blew up early yesterday, with tropical fury, over the streets of Singapore. A torrential rain that prevented normal activity on the track, while Christian Horner unleashed lightning and lightning against the microphones. “The comments from Mercedes and Ferrari are absolutely unacceptable and defamatory. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” explained the main team from Red Bull. Indeed, the accusations against the Austrian team for having exceeded the budget limit in 2021 come precisely during the weekend in which Mad Max He has his first opportunity to sentence the World Cup. A win, accompanied by a ninth place finish or worse than charles leclerc and a quarter or worse of sergio prez, will crown Verstappen for the second time, whose records threaten some of the historical milestones of this sport. Where, then, is the roof of Red Bull and its insatiable leader?
On Friday, Verstappen’s 25th birthday celebration was marred in Marina Bay by reports of Auto Motor und Sport Y La Gazzetta dello Sport. According to the German publication, very close to Mercedes, two teams would have exceeded the spending limit, estimated at 178.6 million euros. And one of them did it significantly. “In the paddock the rumor of Red Bull and Aston Martin has spread”, advanced the aforementioned medium.
On the other hand, the prestigious Italian newspaper spoke of three investigations, also including Red Bull, which in 2021 defined Verstappen’s title after a very tight and controversial fight against Lewis Hamilton. However, according to Gazzette, it would be a minor infraction, less than 5% of the total budget, which could be solved with a simple reprimand or the payment of a fine. According to the FIA regulations, a violation of more than this percentage would imply a punishment that includes the withdrawal of points in the drivers’ or constructors’ championship, a cut in funds and exclusion from the World Championship.
“Guess and Speculation”
However, the lack of specificity in the law and the diffuseness of the sanctions only fuel the confusion. toto wolffhead of Mercedes and Laurent Meckies, Ferrari’s sporting director, argued on Friday that the alleged illegal spending would have given Red Bull a half-second advantage per lap. Meanwhile, the FIA speaks of “unsubstantiated conjecture and speculation” pending its final ruling, which is expected before the start of the Japanese GP. Meanwhile, the words spoken by Ross Brown at the end of 2019. “If the financial regulations are fraudulently breached, the championship will be lost,” the F1 sporting director advanced.
Oblivious to almost everything, Verstappen’s only desire is to get rid of his losing streak in Singapore, a track in which he has neither won nor marked the pole. Yesterday, a refueling calculation error prevented him from completing his last driven lap. However, not even this eighth place on the grid should rule him out of victory. At Monza he won starting seventh, at the Hungaroring tenth and in Belgium fourteenth. In fact, only one of his 11 wins in 2022 coincided with a pole.
In the remaining five rounds, the Dutchman can still break the record for wins in a season, so far held by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013). There were 13 wins for The Kaiser in a World Championship of 18 races, one less than in the fourth title of the Red Bull idol. During that 2013 World Cup, Vettel also linked nine consecutive victories, the same as Alberto Ascari between 1952 and 1953. This record seems further away for Verstappen, although… does anyone dare rule him out?