Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have all praised the FIA for a much smoother and “more mature” 2022 budget cap process, compared to the mess that unfolded following the 2021 cap.
It was recently announced that all teams had been given a certificate of compliance for keeping within the 2022 budget cap, something which has been praised throughout the paddock.
The results of the 2022 budget cap were announced much sooner than they were 12 months ago, when it was confirmed that Red Bull had breached the 2021 cap by $432,000 once a tax issue was cleared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The Austrians were slapped with a $7 million fine and were given a 10% reduction in their allotted wind tunnel time for 12 months.
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For the sake of Formula 1’s sporting integrity, the championship desperately needed all 10 teams to be found not guilty of breaching the 2022 cap, something which, thankfully, happened.
Steiner congratulated the FIA for conducting their financial investigations in a better manner, with the Haas boss having praised the teams and the governing body for working better together.
“Fair play to Federico [Lodi, Single-Seater Financial Regulations Director] because when he started, he didn’t know what he was getting into, how complex [the rules] are,” Steiner told media including RacingNews365.com.
“You need to step up and the teams stepped up to give better information, and it is just a more mature process now from both sides, which helps to make it better.”
Additional checks were completed by the FIA prior to announcing the results of the 2022 budget cap, which included investigating whether some teams were using other departments as a loophole around the budget cap.
Wolff was pleased to see every side “checked thoroughly” by the governing body, with the Mercedes team principal noting that everyone can “get on” with their jobs now.
“The result was that all teams got the certificate of compliance and in that respect, that’s good to know,” said Wolff.
“It seems everybody has been checked thoroughly, and all possible ideas in the background have disappeared because they got the carte blanche, or the ones that were maybe suspected to not have passed it.
“We just need to get on with the rest now.”
Shutting loopholes has clearly been something on the FIA’s agenda, as they recently introduced Technical Directive 045 to stop the use of flexi-wings.
Brown is hopeful that the new TD will also stop future loopholes from being exploited and believes that all teams sticking to the cost cap will bunch the field up.
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“With TD045, there was a reason why that was put in place, and so hopefully that will close any additional loopholes,” Brown said.
“Everyone passed this year, which is good for Formula 1. Formula 1 teams try to be as clever as possible. And hopefully, TD045 is something that will close any loopholes that may have still been existing.
“I think the cost cap was always going to be a bit of a learn-as-you-go.”