Ferrari questions cost cap after revealing €2.5m repair bill

Ferrari

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Ferrari questions cost cap after revealing €2.5m repair bill

Red Bull has previously questioned the cost cap of F1

Sam Hall

Friday 13 August 2021 08:00

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has suggested F1's cost cap needs a rethink after revealing the 2.5million euro damage bill endured by the team this season.

For the first time, F1 is racing under a cost cap. This $145million cap has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, however, with Red Bull and Ferrari suggesting it needs looking at to account for crash damage.

The issue first came to light when Red Bull quoted the repair bill for Verstappen's Silverstone crash as $1.8m.

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“There has been a lot of discussions that if there is a crash and there is a guilty driver, and you're not at fault and if you have been damaged then should that be exempt from the budget cap?" questioned Binotto.

“I think it's certainly an important point because the reason why I mentioned 2.5m euros is to show that overall the damage can be significant. So should we consider a different type of regulation in those cases?

“I think certainly there is merit for it. I think that certainly there are no obvious solutions, but it is something that no doubt we will discuss with the FIA, F1 and teams in the coming weeks, possibly to address it, to see if there is any solution for the future.”

Ferrari's damage bill currently equates to approximately two per cent of its budget for the season.

Andreas Seidl and Guenther Steiner of McLaren and Haas have both made clear their opinion the cap should not be altered to reflect crashes, with Steiner commenting: "You cannot adjust the budget or regulation on how many crashes you have got."

Accepting there to be "no obvious solution", Binotto added: “We will discuss with all the other teams, and with the FIA, because this is certainly a current issue, brought to light from several sources.

"Therefore it deserves to be explored but I don't think there is an easy solution.”