Fresh reports have emerged around the Cashgate saga in Formula 1, and they suggest that overspending on last year’s budget cap is only thought to be minor, according to a report by Sky Sports.
A $145 million spending limit was introduced in 2021, and it covered work on chassis development, transport to races, energy bills in the wind tunnel, and more.
Teams were required to make sure their spending over the course of the year did not exceed the regulation amount, and they were also told to document their spending.
These documents were to be submitted to the FIA for review, but a procedural breach of the financial regulations was committed by Williams earlier in the year, so they were fined for failing to submit their paperwork in time.
READ: FIA won’t punish Red Bull for its ‘interpretation’ of 2021 budget cap
Last week, it was reported that Red Bull and Aston Martin may have overspent on the budget cap, and it was rumoured that the latter may have gone over by more than five percent.
This would constitute a material breach, with Ferrari and Mercedes both implying that Red Bull had gone significantly over.
Team principal, Christian Horner was livid at the accusations, and he is thought to be considering legal action against those aiming the allegations at him and his team.
There are now reports that the Milton Keynes-based side did exceed the maximum spending amount, but not by more than five percent.
This would put them in minor breach of the regulations, so the likely punishment will be a fine.
READ: Helmut Marko hits out at bitter Toto Wolff, fires scandalous accusation
One of the consequences of a material breach is an exclusion from the world championship season in question, which in this instance, is 2021.
The FIA was set to hand out certificates of compliance on Wednesday, but it has now delayed this until Monday.
In a statement, the FIA also hit out at claims that its personnel had released sensitive information to other teams or the media.
“The FIA also reiterates that any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is equally baseless.”
It is not yet certain when any subsequent punishments might be decided, but this will likely either be settled behind closed doors, or at a hearing.