Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes may face a painful but ironic situation after recent reports state that an investigation is supposedly being carried out to check if they breached the cost cap this season. Prior to this report, for the longest of times, Hamilton and his team had left no stone unturned in slamming Red Bull for getting away with a small penalty for their $145,500,000 budget cap breach in the 2021 season.
For example, in his latest interview ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton explained how teams are likely to breach the cost cap once again in the future considering that there is such a small penalty for the same. On similar lines, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has slammed Red Bull for finding a “loophole” to get away with their budget cap breach.
Lewis Hamilton on the potential cost cap breaches last season👇
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) July 20, 2023
Meanwhile, George Russell too voiced his concerns regarding the same by explaining how a punishment must represent the team’s “crime“. Also, it is important to note that it is not just Mercedes that has voiced its concerns regarding Red Bull’s cost cap breach as other teams have also done so.
However, it is Mercedes’ remarks that take center stage as they will seemingly face an ironic situation by being investigated for the same offense they once slammed. This is because as per a recent report, a total of three teams will be under investigation for the same and Mercedes could very well be one of them.
Lewis Hamilton could bear the brunt if Mercedes receives a penalty
According to a recent report put out by formulapassion.it, the FIA will investigate three teams for a potential budget cap breach. They state that two teams that many believe will be under investigation are Alpine and Aston Martin.
However, they added that speculations still continue on who the third team is. The report states that the third side is likely to be Red Bull or Mercedes. Meanwhile, another report put out by Corriere dello Sport adds that Mercedes is at greater risk of being under investigation.
Hence, if Mercedes do get a cost cap breach penalty for any reason, it would be highly ironic as it were they who slammed Red Bull the most. However, it is also pertinent to note that most of their frustrations came as a result of what transpired during the 2021 season.
On that occasion, Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen defeated Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the most contentious fashions for the title. This is because massive controversy resulted following some questionable decisions made by race control. Massive controversy plagued what was an exciting championship battle, especially with then-race director Michael Masi’s controversial calls.
Plus, with Red Bull also dominating the 2022 season, the frustrations seem to have grown even more for Hamilton and co. Now it will be interesting to see if they face the same fate that Red Bull faced this season or not. As for the other teams that are under investigation, they did not raise any concerns with the penalty that the FIA gave the Milton Keynes-based outfit for breaching the cost cap.
Aston Martin and Alpine did not raise any concerns about Red Bull’s penalty
Unlike Mercedes, neither Aston Martin or Alpine raised any concerns about Red Bull‘s penalty. When it came to Aston Martin, they did not speak out against the same, presumably because they too faced a penalty of $450,000.
On the other hand, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who was the head of Aston Martin’s team at the time of the budget cap breach, did not raise any concerns with Red Bull’s penalty either. In a conversation with Sky Sports F1, he said (as quoted by planetf1.com), “They are marginally over from what I can tell by reading all the releases and listening to Christian [Horner]“.
He then added that he believes that FIA’s penalty is a “good one” and that it reflects the breach Red Bull made. However, considering that most teams did slam Red Bull for the same, the Austrian team may have escaped a harsher punishment.
