With the sanctions against Red Bull for breaching the budget cap in 2021 appearing to have had little effect on the Austrian team, moving forward the F1 boss wants to see offenders hit harder.

Having overspent by $1.8m, Red Bull was hit with a $7m fine and a 10% reduction in its wind-tunnel and CFD development time.

Ten races into the 2023 season, and with the Austrian outfit having won all ten races, F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali admits that in future the sport will need to take a different approach.

"I would like the penalty to be sporting in case of infringement," he told Motorsport.com, "it is something we asked for very clearly.

"There are three regulations to be respected," he added, "sporting, technical and financial. Any infractions must be punished with sporting measures. You can't go in other directions."

Rivals, particularly Mercedes and Ferrari were incensed by the seeming leniency of Red Bull's punishment, even though the FIA had described the breach as "minor".

2022 being the first year in which an audit took place, albeit of the previous year's accounts, the sheer complexity of the teams' finances meant that the findings weren't made public until October. Domenicali is seeking a much quicker turnaround this year, especially if the sport is to avoid having suspected culprits tried and sentenced on social media.

"Control is in the hands of the FIA," he said. "Personally what I have asked is to anticipate as soon as possible the publication of the investigations made by the staff of the FIA.

"But I say this only because, in this way, it does not give rise to speculation and comments that are not good for anyone."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Max Noble, 20/07/2023 8:56

"I’m anti a budget cap, and anti moving to a one make series. Yet there are now so many standardised parts… that the law of diminishing returns dictates that you now have to spend a massive amount of the few remaining things you can change to get any sort of pay back. As both articles, and readers on this site have remarked before…
Set weight, size, and safety limits/rules and then let the team have at it!

Sigh… Usain Bolt limited to one hour practice per week to allow other runners to catch up, and he has been asked to gain ten kilos before the next Olympics to give the others a chance… yup, that would be fun…
"

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2. Posted by didaho, 20/07/2023 2:26

"I'm thinking some mild corporal punishment would be effective."

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3. Posted by elsiebc, 19/07/2023 16:36

"According to this logic, we have the secret for success in F1. All you have to do is spend an extra $1.8m and you, too, can win the first ten races of the season by comfortable margins. Of course the following year, with the $7m less (assuming the fine is paid under the cost cap) you will be lucky to just get into the points."

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4. Posted by habentsen, 19/07/2023 12:08

"Cost cap looks more and more like a move to a one-maker series.
Monitoring expences would be way more easy if all the teams had to buy their kit in the same shop."

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5. Posted by Burton, 19/07/2023 11:46

"Even broken clocks etc etc..."

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6. Posted by Max Noble, 19/07/2023 11:15

"@rambler - refer my previous articles on the complexities of monitoring this issue. The FIA have this year admitted they are not correctly monitoring inputs from subsidiary companies. Something I predicted as an issue some time back.

@KKK - the teams all agreed to the rules and the penalties. RB got slugged as agreed… then the others moan. The problem being they will get the penalty greatly increased… and then suffer it themselves! Seriously… just wait… Those calling for bigger penalties are going to then be hit with them…

This is simply the gift that keeps on giving!"

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7. Posted by KKK, 19/07/2023 10:59

"The 10% reduction in wind tunnel use were a joke. They (Red Bull) should have been given a 100 points penalty and no bonuses for any win this year."

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8. Posted by rambler, 19/07/2023 10:56

"Surely with the technology available, and like many companies, a monthly budget statement is possible? The statement should be freely available. The problems with the Red Bull fine were, the delay, were the extra money was spent, the NDA so the actual amount isn't known and the size of the fine.
The actions of the FIA open it to accusations of corruption. It should look to what happened to FIFA and the charges brought against FIFA officials. They to were aragont enough to believe they were untouchable."

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Domenicali wants sporting sanctions for budget cheats

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