Jacques Villeneuve thinks the $7-Million fine Red Bull have to pay after breaching the 2021 Formula 1 cost cap should be divided among the teams.
The FIA announced on Friday of the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix weekend that Red Bull have agreed an Accepted Breach Agreement under which they will pay a $7-Million fine to sport’s governing body and have 10% less wind tunnel allocation for 12 months.
In his formule1.nl column, Villeneuve gave his opinion on the whole Red Bull cost cap breach matter; he claimed: “It will not damage the sport.
“When McLaren got that mega fine of 100 million, that didn’t happen either,” he added referring to McLaren’s Spygate when they were found to have illegaly acquired technical documentation from Ferrari back in 2007.
The case is closed but nothing is clear
“The ruling and the penalty for Red Bull have not yet made it clear to me what is and what is not allowed and what punishment you will receive for it. And then there was also the tax setback, otherwise the overrun would have been less than a million. So I find it difficult to say whether the punishment is severe enough,” the Canadian wrote.
However Villeneuve is not happy that the FIA will become $7-Million richer, while insisting that Red Bull’s breach is not cheating.
“In any case, it’s not cheating,” he said. “Lying about traction control is cheating. Whether it would have made a difference in the outcome this year, I doubt. Red Bull is so strong that they would have won anyway.
“What I have trouble with is that the FIA is now cashing out $7 million. So it has hardly any effect for Red Bull and the other teams don’t get a cent from it.
“The ten percent less time in the wind tunnel does hurt, it will slow them down. But it does not give the others a lap time, part of the fine would help.
“Just divide that among the teams,” the 1997 F1 Champion suggested.