FIA will try to counter financial cheating with control system

The Formula 1 teams have always been very creative in pushing the boundaries with regard to the regulations. For example, Ferrari did that last year with the engine, although there are still discussions about it. Mercedes does that with the DAS system and with the introduction of the budget cap will have to be a good control on that too, so there can be no tampering.

Well prepared

The FIA, as an umbrella organization, will register and monitor the expenditure of the teams in order to prevent or deal with disturbances. The FIA is well prepared for this, says technical director Nikolas Tombazis at Sky Sports. In fact, a financial director has been appointed who will specifically deal with this.

"Every rule only works if it is possible to control it. The FIA has already appointed a financial director with a team. We have been working closely with the team accountants and the finance departments for over a year to avoid any potential difficulties."

The teams have used business models to simulate costs over the past period, as can be seen from Tombazis' statements. Based on this, they have been able to extensively map out the diversity in expenses, with the 2021 season then forming a kind of pilot to see whether it all works effectively.

In conclusion, Tombazis states that teams will be able to simulate the new situation on a voluntary basis as early as this year, so that the pilot will soon provide enough information. The FIA can check all of this through a control system to see if all "control and accounting mechanisms are working properly". This makes it watertight at the official introduction.