FIA delays publication of its inquiries into whether any team breached F1 budget cap in 2021

Formula 1’s governing body has delayed the publication of its inquiries into whether any team breached the sport’s budget cap last year.

But the FIA said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “a long and complex process that is ongoing”.

It would be “concluded to enable the release of the certificates on Monday, 10 October,” the statement said.

The delay is likely to infuriate the teams, who are all in Japan ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Japan is eight hours ahead of UK time and teams had been waiting for an announcement of the FIA’s results so they could issue their responses. The statement was not released until just before 16:00 in the UK, which is midnight in Japan.

And the new publication date means that it will be made public whether teams have been found in compliance on the day most are flying back to Europe from Japan.

Wednesday’s delay is the fourth time the FIA has given teams a date only to push it back.

At first, teams were told the results would be published on Friday 30 September, then Monday 3 October, then 5 October.

The issue has become a contentious one in F1, after Mercedes and Ferrari said at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend that it was an open secret within the sport that two teams had broken the $145m (£114m) cap.

Neither explicitly named the teams in question, although Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff did refer to specific allegations that have been made about Red Bull.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reacted angrily to his rivals’ interventions, saying he regarded the remarks as defamatory and would take further action if they were not withdrawn.

Mercedes and Ferrari rejected Horner’s request.

Horner insisted that he was “absolutely confident” in Red Bull’s submission to the FIA, adding: “We believe we are comfortably within the cap.”

The FIA said: “There has been significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture in relation to this matter, and the FIA reiterates that until it is finalised, no further information will be provided.

“The FIA also reiterates that any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is equally baseless.”

There are two levels of offence according to F1’s financial regulations – ‘minor’ and ‘material’.

The dividing line between the two is 5% of the cap, or $7.25m last year.

Senior sources have told BBC Sport that if any team is found to have been in breach last year, the offence is likely to be minor

Potential penalties for a minor offence include a reprimand; deduction of constructors’ or drivers’ championship points for the year in question; suspension; limitations on aerodynamic or other testing; a reduction of that team’s cost cap.

For a material breach, the possibility of exclusion from the championship is included.

The budget cap reduced to $140m in 2022 and is coming down to $135m in 2023. The exchange rate is fixed to the pound at a specific level – so the cap is not affected by the recent reduction in the value of sterling.