FIA delays release of F1 cost cap certificates until Monday

Following speculation over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend that two teams - Red Bull and Aston Martin - may have breached the $145 million cost cap for 2021, the F1 paddock awaited eagerly for news from the series’ governing body.

The FIA was set to issue compliance certificates to teams who had stayed within the $145m limit on Wednesday following a full audit.

But in a statement issued late on Wednesday afternoon, the FIA announced the certificates would now not be released until next week.

“The FIA informs that the conclusion of the analysis of the 2021 financial submissions of the Formula 1 teams and the subsequent release of Certificates of Compliance to the Financial Regulations will not take place on Wednesday, 5 October,” the statement reads.

“The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process that is ongoing and will be concluded to enable the release of the Certificates on Monday, 10 October.”

It means the discussion over the budget cap is set to rumble on over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with both Red Bull and Aston Martin denying they had breached the $145m limit last year.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Sunday he was “absolutely confident” the team had complied with the financial regulations, amid calls from rivals Ferrari and Mercedes for strict sanctions if that were not the case.

Horner had previously called out his rivals for making “defamatory” claims about the matter, which Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff dismissed as “noise.”

Any team that is found to have exceeded the budget cap by less than 5% - around $7m in 2021 - would be considered to have made a minor breach, with sanctions ranging from a reprimand to points deductions.

A breach beyond the 5% mark is considered to have a material breach, which can be penalised with exclusion from the championship, points deductions, cost cap reductions or testing limitations.

In the statement on Wednesday, the FIA repeated its comment noting “significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture” concerning the budget cap.

“The FIA reiterates that until it is finalised, no further information will be provided,” the statement added. “The FIA also reiterates that any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is equally baseless.”