Aston Martin claim F1 teams agreed on zero crash budget break

Max Verstappen after his crash at Silverstone — Photo: © LAT Images

Formula 1

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Aston Martin claim F1 teams agreed on zero crash budget break

Red Bull wants guilty parties in crashes to pay for damage under the cost cap

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Tuesday 31 August 2021 13:50

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Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed crash allowances were discussed ahead of the addition of a budget cap by all F1 teams.

Red Bull recently called for a guilty party in an incident to pay for damages after two separate crashes in the British and Hungarian Grands Prix before the summer break led to millions of pounds worth of damage.

Insisting crash damage was something teams must deal with within their budgets, Szafnauer said: "We had lengthy discussions before the budget cap was finalised about this topic.

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"Everybody agreed at the time that crash damage was something you couldn't specifically or precisely plan for, but you had some kind of allowance.

"That is exactly what we should be doing in the future and if you allow too much of an allowance, that is what you have to do.

"As for trying to figure out who the guilty party is, almost every crash, everyone is pointing the finger at each other so we just need to leave it the way it is."

Seidl hears "noise from usual suspects"

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl made his stance clear at the conclusion of the Hungarian Grand Prix that no allowance should be made.

That was despite Lando Norris also sustaining significant damage after being taken out in the same crash as Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

"I hear all the noise from all the usual protagonists and suspects but I guess our position is clear," said Seidl.

"I think it would go completely against the objective of the budget cap if you open the door again now for some kind of allowances for crashes or going into the topic of the guilty party taking the bill."