Quote:
Originally Posted by AndreasDavour
No idea about the punishment, but I heard (and I can not say from where, as I don't remember) that it's not until next year they sum up what you spent this year and check that you don't overspent.
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I believe that is correct. I suspect there was a compromise to not include examinations during the middle of the year (as teams would need to do ongoing and continues third party financial audits, etc. and that would be costly and distracting). So they just report out at the end of the year.
Breaches fit three categories:
* Procedural (paperwork errors, missing deadlines, etc.)
* Minor overspend (overspend of less than 5%)
* Material overspend (overspend of more then 5%)
Three categories of penalties are available:
* Financial penalty (pay an imposed penalty)
* Minor sporting penalty (reprimand, points, suspension, additional testing limits, reduction of cost caps, etc.)
* Material sporting penalty (similar to minor, but also includes more stringent options including exclusion from championship)
My take on this is that teams are given freedom on how and when to spend during the year, but they do have to provide records. As I have mentioned before, I can't see teams taking the risk of keeping two sets of books (one for F1 and one for governmental regulatory agencies) as that level of fraud creates risks beyond F1 penalties, but could generate real problems (jail time, loss of revenue, PR disaster, etc.)
It sounds like teams can get slaps on the wrists for paper work errors (i.e. delay in reporting, etc.), they could overspend by up to 5% and can "maybe" keep points, but it would be embarrassing as it would be public and if they go beyond 5%, depending upon how egregious, it might include a slew of serious penalties including being kicked out of F1. Why would anyone really try to do a significant overspend or try to perform financial fraud to hide evidence given how serious the penalty could be?
The F1 Financial Regulations spell this stuff out.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...2022-02-18.pdf
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndreasDavour
That sounds like ripe for exploitation if you ask me.
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How so? There is always room for minor abuse, but I think the system is looking to prevent significant breaches and in the end, this still keeps a relatively level playing field.
Richard