F1 | Binotto: Guilty team should pay for post-crash repairs
Following the opening lap chaos at the Hungaroring, Ferrari and Red Bull Team Principals discuss difficulties to include in the budget cap damage fixes for crashes caused by a rival team.
The last two races have been tough for Red Bull: Max Verstappen was taken out by Lewis Hamilton in Silverstone, while both him and his teammate Sergio Perez were caught up in the first lap mess triggered by Valtteri Bottas.
After the British GP the team spent 1.8 million dollars to repair Verstappen’s RB16B having to install a new chassis and a new engine. In Hungary Perez was forced to retire and Red Bull is still considering the necessity to change his engine, while Verstappen incredibly managed to finish in the points but he also sustained heavy damage. The great expenses they had to pay for reparations raised a debate around the $145m budget cap teams have to keep under.
“I think there is value for discussions in the near future with the other team principals, FIA and F1,” commented Mattia Binotto. “Obviously if you're not guilty, having such damage in the budget cap is something which is even more of a consequence now.”
The Ferrari Team Principal believes exempting the cost of repairs from the budget cup in such cases wouldn’t be the best solution.
“I think it may be very difficult to be policed,” he said. “But I think that what we may consider is that if a driver is faulty, the team of the driver should pay at least to the other teams for the damages and repairs. That will make the drivers more responsible.” The team also suffered great damage at the Hungaroring, with Charles Leclerc’s SF21 being taken out by Stroll during the opening pile up.
Red Bull’s Team Principal Christian Horner also believes “it is something that does need to be looked at in greater detail by the FIA.”
“It’s brutal under the cost cap,” he continued. “I think it re-affirms that when you have an incident that isn't your fault, that we're paying a significant price for that and that's something that isn't budgeted for.”
“Obviously you've got to look at what's within the cap,” he added. “It's spare parts and it's the engines as well, which is particularly concerning. I think we need to revisit this with the FIA because ultimately it is something that can affect all teams, not just Red Bull.”
