Lewis Hamilton says the results of the 2021 F1 world championship would have been different if the Mercedes F1 team had overshot the budget cap in 2021 and matched Red Bull Racing in development rate.
Lewis Hamilton narrowly lost the F1 title to Max Verstappen on the final lap after controversially handling a safety car opportunity at the final round of the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP.
Amid F1’s new $145m budget cap for 2021, there has also been a bitter development war between Mercedes and Red Bull after a hard-fought on-track battle.
Mercedes’ last major update took place at the F1 British Grand Prix in July. Red Bull, by contrast, continued to introduce new cars into their car for the rest of the season.
Red Bull’s spending has been under suspicion by rivals since last year and has come under further scrutiny as rumors spread through the paddock that it may have exceeded the 2021 budget cap.
Lewis Hamilton says last season’s results would have been different if the Mercedes F1 team had spent a further “$300,000” for additional updates.
“I remember putting in the last update at Silverstone last year. Luckily it was nice and we were able to fight with it,” Hamilton said at Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. rice field.
“But then I think you saw Red Bull put out an update every weekend or every other state. I think they had at least four upgrades from that point.”
“If we had spent 30 mandoles on the floor and improved wings, of course the championship result would have been different because we would have a better competition in the next race.”
Rumor has it that Red Bull Racing is over $1 million above the budget cap in 2021, which would be classified as a minor offense and could result in a fine.
Category: F1 / Lewis Hamilton / mercedes / F1 Japan GP