Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the delay in finalizing the FIA’s cost cap assessment made it clear that the team was at risk of breaching financial regulations.
Aston Martin admitted it was in breach of regulations by failing to submit an audited report by the deadline of March 31 this year due to extenuating circumstances, but it is understood that no sporting penalty will be imposed as the FIA has been kept informed and the unaudited report was received in time.
With the FIA still finalizing its review of the 2024 submissions, many sources speculate that another team may be in violation, and Wheatley said the fact that certificates are being issued six weeks later than in the past two years suggests there are areas to investigate.
Asked about the delay by RACER, Wheatley said: “I think the late announcement made it very clear to all of us that some teams are having problems, or maybe some teams are having problems.” “I can tell you from experience that it is a very difficult balance to strike.
“You want to be competitive. As you can imagine, you want to spend every last dollar against the cost cap. Of course you do. That’s our business. We’re in the race. We’re in the competitive sport. We’re in the race. We’re in the competitive sport.”
“The first thing I want to say is that no one does it on purpose. You know, these things happen sometimes. Things can get a little out of control, such as a car accident, and you can have unexpected costs later on. I don’t want to speculate about the cause of that. I think I understand why there was a delay in getting the publication from the FIA.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said the delay in confirmation was not a problem as long as the correct results were obtained when analyzing the team’s submission.
“It’s not a big deal that a decision is finally made in September or October,” Vasseur said. “In this regard, we have to trust that the FIA is doing their job. To be honest, I don’t think it will be easy, but we also have to avoid making assumptions based on rumors, which would be wrong.”
“If someone commits a procedural violation, I think this can happen to anyone. That’s not a sporting advantage. You have to separate the sporting advantage of a sporting penalty from a technical error or an administrative problem. Let’s wait and see.”
