Mercedes threat and Ferrari proposed penalty for Red Bull

Mercedes is reportedly considering exceeding this year’s $140 million spending cap imposed on every Formula One team if Red Bull Racing is not penalized severely enough for exceeding last year’s spending cap.

According to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, this is one of the possible options Mercedes F1 is considering – depending on whether the punishment for the Milton Keynes team, which – as confirmed by the FIA ​​- is sufficiently severe, or whether it was fair – it was found that it exceeded last year’s 145% mark in a “limited manner”, meaning it exceeded it by as much as 5%.

The FIA ​​has yet to decide what they will order RBR to do, but the most likely is a fine. The possibility of Max Verstappen being stripped of points and losing his title in the 2021 championship is almost nil.

For its part, Red Bull Racing is still opposed to the FIA ​​report which found it had exceeded its spending limit for 2021 and appears to be sticking by its decision “Consider every available option the team has”.

So, according to the Italian publication, Toto Wolff is considering Mercedes F1 going over this year’s budget limit if he feels the penalty to be imposed on RBR will not be appropriate. Especially if it’s a simple fine.

By exceeding this year’s spending limit, the Brackley team will be able to further develop the 2023 W14, making it more competitive – with the aim of getting Mercedes F1 back on track and fighting for titles next year. In short, Wolff hints to the FIA ​​that the penalty for RBR must be pretty severe, otherwise all teams – who can – also start exceeding their annual spending limit.

Binotto: Limiting the possibility of evolution

For Ferrari, Scuderia director Mattia Binotto has repositioned himself on the matter – but in his own case proposing an RBR penalty to the FIA, which he believes appropriate.

The Italian told Eurosport that there was no realistic possibility of snatching last season’s title from Verstappen: “Regardless of the team and the case that needs to be analyzed, I think it’s difficult to reverse the outcome of a championship, the fight in the race track, all award ceremonies and celebrations”.

And on the penalty set to be imposed on RBR, he continued: “From my point of view there has to be a penalty that prevents the car from developing further. Otherwise, the benefit (going over the limit in 2021) will remain for the next few years and the result will be that we are all races with different resources”.