F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

7.5 million fine for 2 teams plus some other measures is what i heard

The Alfa was one of the few cars that was under the weight limit at the start of the season but has dropped further and further back as the other teams have caught up with them weight wise

Not published as of yet but reports doing the rounds on SM this morning that RB were less than £1M over the budget. It’s not known yet what punishment if, if any, will be doled out. It appears there was some confusion with what is and isn’t covered under the cap that resulted in the slight overspend.

Ah, yeah but this is F1. It's not about strict adherence to the laws. It's about finding a solution that suits everyone (where possible). Changing champion based on this breach is not acceptable in lots of ways so it won't happen. They might get a fine or have the next year's cap lowered by a small amount. They'll also probably be under closer scrutiny as part of the deal. Bit it won't amount to much.

If that's it there will be a slap on the wrist. It will weaken the rules a small amount as the next team found in breach will site precedent for the punishment being a slap on the wrist, but that's just the nature of the sport.

It would have been better if the first breach was serious and the punishment acted as a deterrent. But it would have been worse if it was Ferrari in serious breach and the FIA had to smudge it over to save Ferrari's blushes.

this is not a bad result for the integrity of the rules.

So, predictably a mountain out of a molehill.

I expect these things to crop up over the next couple of years as teams get further clarifications as what is or isn't to be included in the returns - but as long as there's genuine misunderstanding and no blatant attempt to cheat then I can't imagine any penalty being too harsh.

I'd say Toto is raging though. Missing out on the Drivers championship as well as not having a race win in 2022 would have been much easier to explain to his superiors if they were given proof that their main rival had significantly broken the rules.

Is he on the way out do and if so who will replace him at Alpha Tauri?

Yeah, I listened to the drivers radio when they crossed the line, literally told the team they had left him down. I'd say they had to lock Marko in a cage after it.

He was fairly invisible during the race, so maybe the strategy?

Maybe they favoured Yuki over Gasley at pitstops.

Speaking of favouring a driver, Mercedes used Russell as a lab mouse on the slick tyres. It was justifiable because Hamilton was racing towards the front, but there's no way they would have left Hamilton on the wrong tyre for an entire stint, just to know when was the right time to switch Russell to slicks.

Some here have suggested Russell is becoming Mercedes team leader... but he ain't.

He complained that they pitted him too early for slicks and therefore lost track position

Exactly, it goes against the statement above that Russell isn't the Merc No.1 at present. He made that call to gain advantage, he is ahead in the points etc. Right now he is doing a damn good job of it.

Yes I do, why wouldn't they? They had no other real choice and it was done to see if he could make up pace, not to see if it was right for Hamilton. Surely, Hamilton would have made that call himself no?

Russell has been ahead in the points since round 2 of the championship and has generally gotten more out of the car when it counted. So yeah, it is not unfair or wrong to call him the No.1 right now.

Shouldn't their primary driver be leading the team though? And just for clarity, I am not saying Merc have dumped Ham over Russell for good, just pointing out that he is leading the points and getting the most out of the car on Sundays.

As for Sunday, pitting Russell again would have cooked his goose altogether, so leaving him out with the time loss might not have amounted to the same as a pit for new inters, which would grain and overheat just as bad as the slicks couldn't get the heat into them. Even on that, his fastest lap was 1.5 faster than Perez and 4 seconds faster than Hamiltons best in the same race. His position in the race dictated the gamble on dry tires, nothing to lose on that.

It seems mad to me that Merc would favour Russell over a 7 time world champion. I thought Russell would have got a penalty for hitting Schumacher in Singapore. He does come across as fairly arrogant