Lewis Hamilton Proven Right; Aston Martin’s $140,000,000 Rule Violation Suggests Teams Are Ready to Take a “Slap on the Wrist”

According to recent reports, Aston Martin and Alpine have reportedly breached the 2022 F1 budget cap. Various reports claimed that they breached the $140,000,000 cost cap that was set for last year. This, interestingly proved Lewis Hamilton right when he talked about teams would not hesitate to breach the cap after Red Bull’s precedent from 2021.

Previously, Hamilton stated that Red Bull’s punishment for the breach wasn’t severe. This would give teams the idea of breaking the cost and also getting away with it. Hamilton went as far as describing the red Bull cost cap penalty as a “slap in the wrist.”

Now that Alpine and Aston Martin are reportedly under investigation, it would appear as though Hamilton was correct with his prediction. This comes after the $7,000,000 fine and the 10% reduction in wind-tunnel time that Red Bull got.

Aston Martin and Alpine are on a red alert

According to Italian outlet FormulaPassion, Aston Martin, and Alpine are under a red alert. Reports by Ok Diario also suggested that the Silverstone-based team is right under the radar once again after their alleged breach last year. That time, they got away with a $450,000 fine. This time, however, the problems appear to be more serious. They also reported Red Bull and Mercedes in the mix as well.

Surprisingly, the FIA has denied the claims of budget cap breach. As per Sky Sports, FIA said that the reports are false and based on “factually wrong” data.

But the reports on the internet say otherwise and they certainly do not match Stefano Domenicali and Co.’s words. Nevertheless, the comments made by Hamilton were not taken lightly by Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull.

Horner responds to attack made by Lewis Hamilton

After Hamilton suggested that the budget cap penalty was negligible, Horner came up with a strong justification. He said that the penalty has crippled the team’s development. Keeping aside the money they had to pay, the wind tunnel punishment has put them on the back foot.

Luckily, Red Bull are still leading the world championship, thanks to Adrian Newey and Co’s brilliance. And this is why the effects of their penalty cannot yet be noticed. Furthermore, reports came out that the Milton-Keynes-based team will lose 0.15 seconds per lap later in the season due to the penalty.

Nothing official about Aston Martin and Alpine’s breach has been revealed yet, so there’s no possible way to decipher a potential cost penalty. If there is a penalty, it is very possible that they cannot keep performing at a top level like Red Bull have been able to.