Following the confirmation from the FIA last Monday that Red Bull did in fact exceed the 2021 budget cap, ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has called for a “detailed investigation” into how it was discovered prior to the announcement that Red Bull had exceeded the budget.
It was reported at the Singapore Grand Prix that both Red Bull and Aston Martin had exceeded the 2021 budget cap; however, this report came over a week before last Monday’s announcement.
This report has proven to be incredibly dangerous, as Aston Martin weren’t found guilty of exceeding the budget, but had been found guilty of a procedural error.
Aston Martin have been the real unlucky party out of all of this, with many pieces having been published all over the world suggesting that the Silverstone-based team had exceeded the budget cap.
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In regard to Red Bull, the reports have proven to be correct, with the Austrians guilty of a ‘minor’ breach.
So just where did these ‘reports’ get the inside information from?
A leak from the FIA is the only logical answer; however, the governing body has reiterated that nothing of the sort happened.
Schumacher has labelled the ‘leak’ as “unacceptable”, with the FIA needing to punish Red Bull and themselves “proportionately”.
“The ladies and gentlemen of the FIA must now face a detailed investigation into how this is even possible,” Schumacher said.
“If Red Bull really did break the rules, it should be punished proportionately. But what the FIA has done is unacceptable.”
Given the severity of the reports in regard to Aston Martin’s reputation, for example, the FIA must discover who fed reporters with fake news.
The brother of Michael Schumacher has seemingly labelled the FIA as doing something “criminal”, with it being essential that whoever leaked private financial information be “punished accordingly”.
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“Just imagine if the Ministry of Finance always kept certain companies up to date on the current state of investigations against their competitors.
“That would even be criminal.
“Everything must be transparently disclosed and in case of an offence, the ladies or gentlemen of the FIA must also be punished accordingly,” Schumacher stated.