F1

FERNANDO ALONSO has made an astonishing claim that Max Verstappen’s two F1 titles mean more than Lewis Hamilton’s seven world crowns.It came after Red Bull were slapped with a £6million fine and a reduction in wind tunnel time for breaking the £114million budget cap in 2021 when Verstappen controversially beat Hamilton to the title.
Fernando Alonso claims Max Verstappen’s two titles mean more than Lewis Hamilton’s sevenCredit: AP
Alonso reckons Verstappen had to work harder for his championshipsCredit: Getty
Social media raged at the penalty, with Verstappen being labelled a “costcap champion” or simply “costcappen”, as the FIA failed to overturn the championship, despite the outcome of the defining Abu Dhabi GP.
Alonso, who has a history of bad blood with Hamilton following their bitter fallout as teammates at McLaren in 2008, said: “I have a lot of respect for Lewis, but still it is different when you win seven world titles when you only had to fight with your teammate.
“Then I think a championship has less value than when you have fewer titles but have had to fight against other drivers with equal or even better material.
“In 2005 and 2006, I had a good start to the year myself and was able to create a lead. Then others might have had a better car, but I was able to manage that gap.
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“I never had to fight with my teammate to win those titles. Nor did I see Max fighting with [Sergio] Perez or [Alex] Albon to win races.
“But Schumacher in particular fought with his teammate to become champion five times in a row and Hamilton fought with Rosberg and [Valtteri] Bottas. That’s different, I think.
“I want to fight with the best drivers and Max is part of that. I have been lucky enough to fight with Sebastian Vettel, Lewis and Michael Schumacher in the past, but I have never had that chance with Max.
“Hopefully that will still happen in the coming years when I drive for Aston Martin.”
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner said on Friday that while his team accepted the terms of their cost cap breach, he was adamant the overspend of £432,652 would not have increased his team’s cars’ performance.
Horner also said he felt the £6million fine and wind tunnel reduction was “draconian”, as it would reduce his cars’ performance by half a second over a lap.
However, Mercedes trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, hit back ahead of Sunday’s Mexico GP, saying: “The scale of that penalty isn’t much more than what you would lose if you are just one place higher up in the championship.
“It’s not as big as the penalty if you are positioned two places higher. So I think describing it as draconian is an exaggeration.
“You definitely need to be more efficient but if it were half a second, which I’d heard mentioned, then a team at the back of the grid would have over a three-second advantage to one at the front and that simply isn’t the case.”
When asked by SunSport just how much development you could do with £432,652, Shovlin said it could amount to a “major update” to improve performance.
He added: “Day in and day out we’re making decisions of what we don’t do, that are at the orders of one, two or three thousand pounds.
“We simply don’t have enough money, you’ve got to choose where it goes very carefully.
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“It’s very difficult to put a lap time on it but the reality is that money buys performance.
“In terms of an upgrade kit that could easily be a major update kit.” More

CHRISTIAN HORNER has slammed the “draconian penalty” dished out to his Red Bull team for breaking F1’s cost cap.Horner’s team have been slapped with a £6million fine AND a 10 percent reduction in wind-tunnel development time, which he says will cost them half a second in laptime.
Christian Horner slammed the penalty Red Bull receivedCredit: AFP
His team were ruled to have overspent the £114million limit last year by £1.8million, although £1.4million of that was due to an overpayment of tax.
It means the total Red Bull crept over was just £432,652 – but still Horner feels his rivals will not be happy with the sanctions dished out.
He said: “For some of them I’m sure, it won’t be enough, even if you burned our wind-tunnel down!”
Horner has “begrudgingly” accepted the FIA’s punishment yet maintains his team’s submission was under the cost-limit when they submitted it in March.
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However, he says the punishment will have “a direct effect on next year’s car” – and will be in place for the next 12 months.
He added: “We’ve been provided a significant penalty, both financially and sportingly, from the $7million [£6million] — which is an enormous amount of money, that is payable within a 30-day period.
“The more draconian part is the sporting penalty, which is a 10 percent reduction in our ability to utilise our windtunnel and aerodynamic tools.
“I’ve heard people reporting [that it] is an insignificant amount — let me tell you now, that is an enormous amount. That represents anywhere between quarter and half a second worth of laptime.”
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The FIA concluded that “there is no accusation or evidence that Red Bull sought to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, nor has it wilfully concealed any information”.
The Red Bull chief explained the areas where his team were accused of overspending, which included catering and sick pay.
But he says that in no way did they cheat the system, or benefit from improving Max Verstappen’s car that helped him win the title last year in Abu Dhabi in such controversial circumstances.
He said: “There was zero benefit because the amount we went over, there are mitigating factors.
“If we went over because of sick pay, because of catering, not one penny was spent on the car.
“I am astounded that there were no other teams who found themselves in this position.
Double world champion Max Verstappen will see upgrades for his car limited next yearCredit: GettyFormula One 2022Everything you need to know about F1 this season

“Max won it fair a square on the day. He did his job. The team did their job and he is the world champion.
“What we are talking about now has not added to the performance of his car from last year.”
When asked if he felt the need to apologise to F1 or rival teams for breaking the cost-cap in the first place, he added: “To be honest, we are due an apology from our rivals for some of the claims they made.
“We make no apology for the way we acted and take it on the chin. There are lessons to be learned and we accept some mistakes were made on our side.
“But there was no intent, nothing dishonest and certainly no cheating, which has been alleged in certain corners.
“So no need to apologise. We have taken a public pounding through accusations from other teams. Our drivers have been booed and time is now to stop and move on.”
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Meanwhile, Aston Martin have been fined £388,200 for a procedural breach of the financial regulations.
The FIA said the Silverstone-based team were within the cap but had incorrectly labelled 12 different items, including the costs of their new factory, wind tunnel and simulator. More

RED BULL have accepted the FIA’s breach offer for breaking F1’s £114million cost cap last season.Team boss Christian Horner has been in deep negotiations with the FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over the long-running saga, which has spanned across four races.
Red Bull will be fined £6m and have also been issued a sporting penaltyCredit: AFP
Red Bull will be fined £6million and issued a sporting penalty in the form of a limitation of their ability to conduct aerodynamic testing.
An FIA statement said: “Following the submission of all required documentation by all ten Formula One Teams, the Cost Cap Administration carried out the first ever Review process under the FIA Formula One World Championship Financial Regulations.
“These new Financial Regulations are a very complex set of rules that competitors were required to adapt to for the first time. 
“Red Bull Racing was found to be in breach, however, the Cost Cap Administration recognised that Red Bull Racing has acted cooperatively throughout the review process and has sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner, that this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence that RBR has sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, nor has it wilfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration. 
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“In these circumstances, the Cost Cap Administration offered to RBR an ABA to resolve this matter. That offer was accepted by RBR.
“An Accepted Breach Agreement (“ABA”) dated 26 October 2022 was therefore entered into by and between the Cost Cap Administration and Red Bull Racing pursuant to Article 6.28 of the FIA Formula 1 Financial Regulations (“Financial Regulations”).”
While it means the matter is now closed, Red Bull’s rivals are still furious they have not received a stricter punishment.
Teams were pushing for harsher penalties which would have had a deeper impact on the Red Bull’s potential in the future, with some seeking sanctions that could affect them up until 2026.
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Red Bull however, were adamant all along that their submission was BELOW the cap when they filed it in March.
They claim that amendments made to the rules post-submission have seen their costs escalate.
They also say they included a tax overpayment of £1.4million, plus they incorrectly included a total canteen bill of £400,000 for staff, rather than accounting for those only associated with the production of their F1 cars.
Other sticking points include staff being placed on “special projects” away from their F1 operation but not on gardening leave as the hybrid role fell into the cap.
Plus sick pay was also included and a contributory factor.
While he has signed the agreement, Horner will outline his team’s position in a press conference in Mexico on Friday. More

MARTIN BRUNDLE has revealed that Brad Pitt has reached out to him after being snubbed during the grid walk. The F1 pundit tried and failed to chat to the Hollywood actor during his traditional pre-race walk before lights out at the US Grand Prix.
Brundle was an F1 driver in the 1980s and 1990sCredit: Alamy
Pitt faced a backlash for his actions on the gridCredit: Rex
But Pitt awkwardly rebuffed Brundle, much to the disappointment of F1 fans.
And the car crash TV moment was particularly noteworthy with Pitt set to star in an F1 movie.
Brundle’s grid walks have become a tradition of F1 races with the former driver attempting to find big stars and celebs to talk to on the crowded pit straight.
The 63-year-old revealed Pitt had been in contact with him since their run-in.
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He tweeted: “Got a note from Brad Pitt explaining what happened with our near miss on the Austin grid.
“Unnecessary, but nice of him. Absolutely nobody is obliged to talk to me on the grid, but as I endeavour to make 10/12 minutes of live and unscripted sports TV I’m obliged to at least ask.”
Movie star Pitt rebuffed the pundit’s questions in Austin before turning around and giving a brief answer after Brundle asks about the film.
When Brundle then tries to ask him about his enjoyment of F1, the famous actor palms him off with a dismissive “thank you, man” before charging away.
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Fans did not take well to Pitt’s actions.
One wrote on Twitter: “Brad Pitt, you’re doing a movie on F1 and don’t know who Martin Brundle is? It’s *the* grid walk. Stop and talk to him.”
Another said: “Not sure I understand the logic of Brad Pitt not wanting to spend just a moment to talk to Martin Brundle during the grid walk.
“I mean, this is his moment to connect with those F1 fans that would see his F1 movie.”
The awkward encounter was similar to Brundle’s last trip to Austin when he memorably clashed with the security detail around American rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
Once the race actually got underway, Max Verstappen managed to pass Lewis Hamilton six laps from the end to record yet another victory. More