F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Rosberg: FIA in 'lose-lose situation' in judging Red Bull cost cap breach

Nico Rosberg says the FIA is in a "lose-lose situation" and won't come out on top, whatever the sanction it imposes on Red Bull Racing for its cost cap breach.

The FIA has reportedly submitted to RBR an Accepted Breach Agreement to settle the team's transgression of F1's financial regulations in 2021.

Last weekend in Austin, the two parties met to iron out a settlement, but talks were suspended following the passing of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.

Discussions are expected to continue this week, but neither Red Bull nor the FIA have given anything away as to the financial or sporting penalty that the Milton Keynes-based outfit will need to pay to solve the matter.

But Rosberg, speaking on Sky F1’s Any Driven Monday podcast, sees no way for the FIA to impose a sanction that will reflect positively on the governing body.

"It’s such a difficult one to answer at this point because we all don’t have information, we don’t have details on how it was breached and that’s relevant," said the 2016 F1 World Champion.

"What was done with the extra money that was used? Was it to buy sandwiches or was it to develop the car with one extra upgrade? It’s so difficult to judge it from the outside and all of that needs to be taken into consideration a little bit, I’m sure.

"For the FIA, the problem is it’s really a lose-lose situation because if they took points away from last year’s championship, worst case even points from Max, that would be really bad for everybody."

"But if they did a serious cost cap breach, like a big one, a couple of million or whatever, and it really gave them a performance advantage and they (the FIA) don’t go in very hard or aggressive, then that’s also lose-lose.

"It’s so difficult and I hope the FIA manage to find a fine line and get it right. We need to wait and see though."

©RedBull

Calling into question the outcome of last season's title battle or taking points away from Red Bull or Max Verstappen appear as unlikely options for the FIA.

In Austin, speculation evolved around a hefty fine for Red Bull and possibly a sporting punishment in the form of less wind-tunnel time for the team in 2023.

Rosberg also noted that even if only a very small performance advantage was generated by Red Bull's overspend in 2021, it could have been a deciding factor in settling the title last season in Abu Dhabi, where Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by just a handful of seconds.

"The horrible thing in this is the championship was decided by one second, if I remember correctly, on the last lap of the last race," concluded Rosberg.

"I don’t know how they will figure this out. It’s not good."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

18 mins ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

1 hour ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

3 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

4 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

4 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

5 hours ago