Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has proposed a new regulation to solve any crash-related problems that often occur on track.
Lap 1 of the Hungarian GP was a calamity of errors, as Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll scattered a combined five cars, excluding their own. The crashes were not minuscule in nature, and will make dents into the bills of every team involved.
One such team was Ferrari. Charles Leclerc took damage from Stroll, and he was helpless as he spun into Daniel Ricciardo. Teams like Red Bull have also voiced their displeasure at paying because of another team. Binotto’s suggestion deals with that particular issue.
Binotto has suggested that the teams of the drivers who are at fault for damage to the other team’s cars should be the ones paying their repair costs. He believes that this will provide incentive to drivers to be more responsible on track.
“Obviously if you’re not guilty, having such damage in the budget cap is something which is even more of a consequence now,” he said.
“I think that what we may consider is that if a driver is faulty, the team of the driver should pay at least to the other teams for the damages and repairs. That will make the drivers more responsible.
“I think there is value for discussions in the near future with the other team principals, FIA and F1,” he concluded.
Backup
Binotto would have a supporter in Red Bull’s Christian Horner, who must be fuming after the last two races. Nearly two million dollars had to be spent to repair Max Verstappen’s car after the British GP. Now, after Hungary, the bills would be even more alarming, given both Verstappen and Sergio Perez took damage to their cars.
“I think it re-affirms that when you have an incident that isn’t your fault, that we’re paying a significant price for that and that’s something that isn’t budgeted for,” Horner was quoted as saying.
With FIA not backing down on their budget cap rule, Binotto’s suggestion looks unlikely to be implemented this season. Nevertheless, it provides good food for thought, and if it were to come through, could change the way of racing in the sport.
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