Charles Leclerc and George Russell back 'punishment' for guilty teams

Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has urged the FIA to sanction any teams that will be found guilty of not respecting the budget cap rules in the 2021 Formula 1 season.

The focus of media was directed at the FIA on Wednesday, as the governing body had indicated it would provide details on the certificates of compliance, but after a long wait, the FIA issued an official statement in the evening announcing it would not be reveal any updates until next week, after the Japanese Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Aston Martin are the teams believed to have exceeded the spending cap in 2021, which leaves them exposed to a wide range of penalties from Formula 1’s governing body.

When asked about this matter ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix and how important it was for the FIA to give an “appropriate punishment” for any team that is found guilty of spending move than the $145million limit, George Russell replied:

“It’s not my duty to dive into those details. I’ll just sit and wait to see what the results are from Monday but I just know from our experience within Mercedes, how hard the whole team has worked to stay within that cost cap. We know we can bring more performance to the table if we had more money to spend, and it’s as simple as that. I trust in [FIA president] Mohammed [ben Sulayem] and the FIA to bring an appropriate punishment for anyone who is found guilty of the charges accused and it should be quite straightforward. You would expect the amount that has been gone over, should be the amount taken off for next year’s budget and probably a bit more on top of that as a punishment. But let’s wait and see.” – the Mercedes driver explained.

For now, the FIA has pointed out in two different press releases that its process of evaluating the financial reports is ongoing and that rumors regarding any form of illegality is just “speculation” at this stage of the investigation.

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However, should next week’s results clearly show a breach, Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc strongly believes the matter cannot simply be ignored

“Speaking about ourselves, if we have more to spend then, of course, you will go faster on the track,” added the Ferrari driver, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit – “So if there is any team found guilty of that then they should be punished. What is the punishment? I am not the one to decide but for sure, it should be punished.” – Charles Leclerc concluded.