Questions remain about policing budget cap – Binotto
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto says question marks still remain over how the FIA will be able to police budget cap rules. F1’s gliding budget cap was set at $140m for 2022, with $1.2m added for having more than twenty-two races and as an extra allowance for sprint race costs.
However, this figure was later revised upwards by 3% because of rising inflation caused by the global supply chain troubles, the rising cost of energy and the war in Ukraine. The figure was increased by 3%, and the allowance remains subject to a planned 3% indexation in 2023.
While the cap has been hailed as one of the reasons why the performance gaps between F1 teams are slowly shrinking, and it certainly has prevented the top teams from rolling out one vast upgrade after another, questions remain on how the FIA will police the teams’ spending.
While Binotto pointed out that he trusts the FIA, he said that financial policing remains uncharted territory in F1. He told Motorsport.com, “It needs to be policed and monitored. I fully trust the FIA, but the financial regulations are completely new regulations.”
“If you look at the technical or sporting [regulations], it’s many years it’s in place. Yes, you are retuning, changing a bit the chassis, but still [the budget cap] an unknown field, both from the FIA and the teams.
“We know exactly where things can be done, where it needs to be policed. That is why the financial regulations are completely new regulations for both the teams and the FIA. it will take the time for the FIA, for the teams, to know it, to interpret it and clarify it, police it and monitor it.”
Binotto believes it’s key for the FIA to expand its small task force dedicated to budget cap monitoring and bring it up to par with its technical department. Until that time, he believes questions remain over how well the budgets can be policed.
he argued, “If I look at how big is the team on the FIA, the financial monitors of the situation… three, four, five people, compared to the tens they have on the technical [side], I’m expecting that maybe in a few years’ time it could be tens of people financially monitoring what’s going on with the budget.”
Binotto believes that it’s a matter of time before the issue is resolved, but the governing body and the teams have a duty to try to speed up as much as we can for the right monitoring but we should be all aware that right now.
Giovinazzi to drive in two practices for Haas
Former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi will take part in FP1 for Haas at the Italian and United States Grands Prix. The Ferrari reserve driver will take the wheel of the VF-22 at both Monza and the Circuit of the Americas, with current drivers Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen taking it in turns to hand over their cars to the Italian.
The Italian raced in F1 for Sauber/Alfa Romeo between 2017 and 2021 before moving to Formula E with Dragon while retaining his role as Ferrari’s reserve driver. He could also be a contender for a seat with Haas for 2023, with Schumacher’s future uncertain while Magnussen has a multi-year contract agreement.
He said, “I’m so glad to have the chance to drive again in official F1 sessions. Besides simulator driving it is important to test a true car and I can’t wait to put my suit and helmet back on. It’ll be an opportunity to get confident with the new generation cars – it’s the best way to be ready if I were called as reserve driver.”
“Driving on challenging and exciting tracks as Monza and COTA makes it even more thrilling. Thanks to Haas F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari – I’m looking forward to giving my contribution to the team that counted on me already in 2017.”
Team principal Gunther Steiner added: “We’re happy to welcome Antonio Giovinazzi back to the team for the two FP1 outings. Ferrari were keen to give Antonio some seat time in a current-spec Formula 1 car on a race weekend and we were naturally happy to assist.”
“We enjoyed a similar situation back in 2017 with Antonio and Ferrari – the clear difference between then and now is the experience he’ll have gained competing for the previous three seasons in Formula 1 and the feedback he’ll be able to give us in Italy and America.
Ecclestone indicates not guilty plea on tax charges
Bernie Ecclestone has indicated a not guilty plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on fraud charges after an alleged failure to declare £400m of overseas assets to the government. He faces a charge of fraud by false representation between 13 July 2013 and 5 October 2016.
According to the charge, he allegedly claimed he had established a single trust in favour of his daughters. He is also alleged to have said that he was not the beneficiary of any other trust in or outside the UK. The former F1 driver and CEO is to allegedly made the misrepresentations “intending to make a gain, namely not stated, for yourself”.
Ecclestone was met by a horde of cameras upon arrival at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday morning, even though they had been warned not to mob him because of his age. He was walked in through the building’s exit by court security along with his legal team.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring allowed him to stand outside the dock after his barrister Clare Montgomery QC said her client was “having a little bit of trouble hearing”, according to Sky News.
Prosecutor Robert Simpson told the court: “During the course of that investigation he was asked about any trusts placed abroad that he was involved with. The Crown has based this charge on the basis he failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing approximately $650m.”
The court heard he said he was “not the settler or the beneficiary of any other trust” and the prosecution alleged the businessman acted “with the intention of making a gain for yourself”.
Ecclestone confirmed his name, date of birth and address in Knightsbridge, central London, before indicating a not guilty plea. He was released on unconditional bail ahead of his next appearance at Southwark Crown Court on 19 September.
The charge against the billionaire was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service last month after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, which said the probe had been “complex and worldwide”.
Ricciardo believes Perez shows how fast things change
Daniel Ricciardo believes that the turnaround of Sergio Perez’s career serves as proof of how quickly things can change in Formula One. Pressure on the Australian has been growing since McLaren CEO Zak Brown said earlier in the year he had ‘failed to meet expectation,’ and looks set to replace him with Oscar Piastri.
It will bring to an end two difficult seasons for Ricciardo at McLaren, where despite scoring the team’s first victory in almost nine years at Monza last year, he has struggled to match Norris for form. McLaren has set its sights on returning to the top, including investment in the teams Woking base, as well as other improvements so it can fight with the bigger teams under the budget cap.
Speaking to Motorsport.com ahead of the summer break and before McLaren’s plans to cut ties were known, Riccardo noted that while long-term projects take time to build, things can also change very quickly – using Perez’s recent career turn at Red Bull as proof. Ricciardo said, “I was saying it when I was 27, ‘ah, I’m getting older!’ – in a way, yes, I’m getting older, but I think also I know a bit more about the sport now, and I know that things do take time.”
“We all believe we can win. So it’s like, well I want to win tomorrow, but it’s not always like that. Even now, talking about 2024 or ’25, in a way it’s hard to think that far ahead. But it’ll come around quickly. You also take like little things from if it’s a Perez, when his career looked over, and now he’s potentially fighting for a world championship. The sport can change so quickly.”
Perez nearly lost his seat in F1 at the end of 2020, after Racing Point triggered a clause to cut ties so it could sign Sebastian Vettel as his replacement. That lead to him going to Red Bull where he has won two races, as well as enjoying one of his best seasons so far.
When Perez faced uncertainty about his F1 future that he would only continue if he could land a competitive seat, and spoke recently about how joining Red Bull helped extend his career.
He said, “If I was in a project that I wouldn’t [be] inspired by more, maybe the price to pay to be a Formula One driver, it [would have been] not worth it anymore.” Perez signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull until at least the end of 2024.
With the terms of his McLaren exit still to be agreed upon, Ricciardo is set to explore other options to remain on the F1 grid for 2023. One option for Ricciardo appears to be a return to Alpine, for which he raced for when it was branded as Renault through 2019 and 2020
Tsunoda taking F1 more seriously – Gasly
Pierre Gasly believes his Alpha Tauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda “probably took Formula One a bit more seriously” through his second season, allowing him to provide better feedback to push the team forward. The Japanese driver had an up-and-down rookie season with several crashes and accidents alongside Gasly in 2021.
Tsunoda admitted earlier this year that he “didn’t know what I was doing” through much of his rookie season as he got his head around certain aspects of F1. But he has performed more consistently so far this year, prompting him to rate his campaign to date at 7/10. Gasly felt he had seen Tsunoda progress “quite a lot” between his first and second seasons in F1, in part thanks to a shift in approach.
Gasly told Motorsport.com, “I think now he took probably Formula 1 a bit more seriously, which was the right approach to have. From what he says, I did have an impact on that side to show him the sort of dedication and commitment that this sport required.”
“I think this year, we’ve been working as a team, where last year it was kind of a little bit divided, because didn’t have much experience. He was still quite new to the sport. This year I think he’s got clear ideas and clearer feedback on what we actually need to go faster, so we can work together to improve the package that we have.”
The team has slipped to eighth in the constructors, as they struggled to understand the car and haven’t managed to score points since Baku in June when Gasly finished eighth. Their focus over the last month has been trying to understand the teams upgrades.
Technical director Jody Egginton echoed Gasly’s thoughts, believing that Tsunoda had made a step forward with his technical understanding compared to his rookie season. Egginton added, “There’s a lot of information the drivers have got to take on board and it doesn’t always stick immediately.”
“Like with anyone in any sort of difficult or technical exercise, or even like exam revision, practice makes perfect. More things are clicking now that he’s understanding things. He’s also forming better opinions of what he wants on the car. And that takes time, with any driver.”
Off track, Gasly and Tsunoda have formed a friendship, they have taken part in a number of events and producing content together for Alpha Tauri including videos and podcasts.
Gasly said of Tsunoda, “He’s very funny. He doesn’t have any filter, which is what I appreciate, and do entertain quite a lot. Whatever crosses his mind is out of his mouth a tenth of a second later.”
Schumacher believes People too quick to criticise
Mick Schumacher believes that people should take more time before dishing out criticism, especially if they don’t have all the facts. The German came under pressure following a messy start to the season, including big crashes in Jeddah which saw him miss the race and Monaco, as well as a collision with Sebastian Vettel in Miami.
Since June, Schumacher’s performances improved with qualifying a career-best sixth in Canada, and though his car failed in that race, he subsequently took points in both Britain and Austria. But he hasn’t forgotten the judgement earlier in the year. Schumacher told Motorsport.com, “People are kind of focused on building headlines, in a way.”
“Yeah, I understand that people need to make money and they need to do some stuff. But on the other hand, also, I would appreciate if people would, you know, maybe take more time, to actually build up facts.” Although some of the accidents have been caused by driver error, some have also been caused by car issues, like his suspension issue in Barcelona.
Schumacher says he doesn’t really reflect on his accidents, but he knows what he is able to do and his own worth. He stays that he wants to do his best and pointed out he has won championships in F4, F3 and F2, adding “I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to do that in Formula One”
He says following Monaco, he had almost a mental reset which has led to a change of narrative, Schumacher says he knew he had to do something to improve my performance. Reflection was part of that, Schumacher said he loves the sport which has been his focus, bringing him back to a positive place.
Though the last two races before the summer break produced nothing in the way of points following the Silverstone-Spielberg brace of scores, Schumacher is optimistic for the remainder of the season.
Schumacher explained, “I feel like we may have gotten lost a bit in the set-up at the beginning of the year. We kind of had to do a reset and then build it up from scratch again. Looking back on what we had in those races, compared to what we’ve achieved today in terms of setup, I think we’re really, really happy.”
