I am also a Max Verstappen fan. I study and respect champions and Max is absolutely championship-caliber talent as well as an official 2-time champion, to prove it. I admire his journey and the bold finesse he brings to the art. I wish him great continued success.
With that said, the budget cap issue is a serious matter without a clear resolution.
On one hand, as a competitor who roots for the underdog and likes creative solutions, I like the expression, “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying”.
Now I am not encouraging unfair or dangerous play, but in most, if not all sports, rules and their interpretation is just as important as athletic skill.
What I mean by this is that it is the job of the competitor to push the limits of what is allowed in their effort to win.
That is the essence of “Formula” One. All teams are given a set of rules and specs to set boundaries and limits on what they can do to win. It is the job of the teams to squeeze every millisecond of speed from within those limits.
Drivers find their limits on the track. RBR's back office found some limits in accounting.
Drivers spin. Accounts get audited.
So yes, Red Bull may have broken the rules (and had the luxury to do so in the first place) but as of yet, I have seen no evidence of any type of criminal activity or even intentional malice.
It seems like everyone on their team is doing what they are supposed to be doing and I hope all the other teams are as well.
On the same token, the budget cap is there for a reason.
For the sake of the sport and fandom, a budget cap ensures that one team isn’t able to pace lightyears ahead of the rest of the field because of increased access to resources. It makes the races less of a race and no fun to watch.
The budget cap also ensures that the teams in the back of the field at least have a fighters chance. This makes the series more fair and competitive and is a good thing all around.
So what can be done to remedy the situation?
A budget cap breach is not a minor thing. It may not seem like a lot in a sport where each team spends someone's life savings worth on tires every weekend, but imagine if you were millions off, on your budget.
And in a sport built on precision, there is a tangible correlation between dollars spent and MPH.
With so much at stake as well, a team that cheats is effectively stealing potential earnings from their competitors (and I’m no lawyer but it seems like this is where it may get criminal), and there is a lot of money on the table here.
To see how seriously the FIA takes cheating, we needn’t look further than the infamous 2007 “SpyGate” where Ferrari accused McLaren of stealing technical information (and later included Renault).
Investigation showed that not only did McLaren steal information but they even implemented the information into their own car designs.
This led to a record-breaking, mind-boggling fine of $100 million US dollars and elimination from constructors championship eligibility.
The only thing the FIA seems to take more seriously than cheating is safety.
Now I don’t love authority figures. It’s in my DNA to be anti-establishment, but I think the FIA does a decent job of putting together top-level international motorsport series.
So we can point fingers at the FIA but there is still a conundrum; what should be done?
As stated I am Lewis Hamilton's greatest fan and I would love to see him with 8 titles… yesterday. I think the way things went down at the race that shan’t be named (Abu Dhabi 2021), was completely deplorable and wreaking of corruption. That type of officiating ruins fan spirit and tarnishes the authentic honest efforts of the drivers and teams who risk their lives and sacrifice for the sake of this sport we all love.
With that said, it was obviously a tight championship and for Hammie, just like in combat sports, this is why we don’t leave it to the judges. Sometimes a sport or arena calls upon you to be so dominant that nothing is left to question, and that is the only way to win. It may not be fair but it’s part of the game and it’s the best way to ensure a champion's legitimacy.
It’s not fair, but the situation called upon Hamilton to not leave the championship down to a single lap.
He almost succeeded but the fates, Max Verstappen and RBR, had other plans.
On the same token, Max is an undeniable championship-caliber talent. He lays it all on the line with absolute skill and focus. He is a force to be reckoned with and the current definition of fast.
It would be a shame to punish Max for pencil-pushing mistakes and bureaucratic turbulence. That’s not what I want for Max and that’s not the honorable way Lewis deserves to earn his 8th championship.
Therefore, the fairest consequence I can imagine is something along the lines of taking the breach amount difference, either from the top line or from each team's individual budget and making RBR pay that amount to each of the opposing teams.
I think the exponential nature of this punishment would be of significant enough amount that RBR would absolutely think twice before attempting future creative accounting solutions. This would also give other teams no excuses to ensure competitiveness for seasons to come.
I think this is the only fair solution I can see, but time will soon tell.
Will the FIA provide a solution that is calculated and fair, or will they make another decision that is questionable in the eyes of public opinion, causing fringe fans to be lost while forever leaving a foul taste in the mouths of die-hard fans like myself?
What do you think should be done?
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