LEWIS HAMILTON and George Russell are demanding tougher penalties for teams that break Formula One’s spending limit.
The sport is poised to be rocked by the latest breaches, with reports claiming THREE teams exceeded the $140million limit in 2022.
Red Bull were fined $7m last year and given a ten per cent reduction in wind-tunnel time as a punishment for breaching the $145m limit in 2021.
But the row caused a bitter stink and Hamilton feels the penalty was not strict enough.
He said: “It’s a concern. I mean, it wasn’t really a big punishment last time so there’s no real deterrent.
“There’ll be people that will probably go for it again and know they’re just going to get slapped on the wrist.”
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Asked what would be appropriate, Hamilton added: “I’m not going to say what it should be, it’s not my job.
“We’ve people in place to police it but it doesn’t surprise me. It wasn’t a big penalty before.”
His Mercedes team-mate Russell also called for greater punishment for repeat offenders.
He added: “If anybody has breached any regulation, you want the punishment to represent the crime.
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“Previous breaches, it didn’t. We don’t want to see it happen again. And if it’s a second-time offender, the punishment should be even greater. I trust the FIA, they won’t let anybody get away with something that shouldn’t have happened under their watch.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton is closing on a new Mercedes deal, worth near £100m.
The seven-time world champion is out of contract at the end of the season and says his new agreement — expected to be for two years — is in the hands of the lawyers.
Hamilton, 38, was quizzed by SunSport ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix over the extension.
He said: “I actually like these questions, so you can keep them going . . . it’s very, very close.”
Asked if it would be tied up before the summer break — after next week’s Belgian GP — he added: “Nope . . . it might be announced at the end of the year. I might keep you waiting!
“It continues to be with the lawyers, back and forth. I’ve not been part of it the whole time. I’ve been removed from it from the beginning.
“I’ve been wanting to focus on all the other things I have going on. The team has been working on it.
“There’s no negotiation left. It’s just all the small bits.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
