A leak sparked the Cashgate Scandal, and the FIA has been asked to look into the matter and punish the perpetrators.
Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher demands a “detailed investigation” into how it was found before it was officially announced that Red Bull had surpassed the budget after the FIA confirmed last Monday that the team had exceeded the 2021 budget cap.
The first revelation that Red Bull and Aston Martin allegedly exceeded the 2021 cost cap was heard at the Singapore Grand Prix, however, this information was released more than a week before last Monday’s announcement.
Those allegations were proven to be not entirely true because Aston Martin was found guilty of a procedural breach rather than being found guilty of overbudgeting.
The unfortunate party in all of this has been Aston Martin, with several headlines circulating worldwide alleging that the Silverstone-based team had overspent. However, rumours about Red Bull turned out to be true, and the Austrian-based team did commit a “minor” breach.
Where exactly did these “reports” acquire this insider knowledge from, then? The natural conclusion is that there was a leak from the FIA, but the governing body has reaffirmed that nothing of the kind occurred.
The “leak” has been deemed “unacceptable” by Schumacher, who also said that the FIA must punish Red Bull and themselves “proportionately” for their roles in it. He said: “The ladies and gentlemen of the FIA must now face a detailed investigation into how this is even possible,”
“If Red Bull really did break the rules, it should be punished proportionately. But what the FIA has done is unacceptable.”
- Mercedes to have the competitive edge in 2023, says Russell.
- Hakkinen praises Newey: ‘Thanks to his work at McLaren that I had great cars.’
The FIA has to figure out who gave reporters false information considering the seriousness of the claims regarding, for instance, the reputation of Aston Martin.
According to Ralf Schumacher, the FIA is acting in a “criminal” manner, and whoever disclosed confidential financial information must be “punished accordingly.”
He added: “Just imagine if the Ministry of Finance always kept certain companies up to date on the current state of investigations against their competitors. That would even be criminal.”
“Everything must be transparently disclosed and in case of an offence, the ladies or gentlemen of the FIA must also be punished accordingly,”
