The FIA has fined Aston Martin $450,000. The accountants of the world association are reacting to several cases of incorrect information in the cost transmission, which are decisive for the budget cap.
Aston Martin gets away with a black eye again. Despite some serious procedural errors in the transmission of the expenses for the 2021 season, the Silverstone racing team has hardly made the headlines recently. Instead, the media targeted the Red Bull team, which the FIA was able to prove not only had procedural errors but also excessive expenses.
Aston Martin, on the other hand, stayed within the budget cap. Nevertheless, the examining authority had to impose a penalty here as well. It fined 450,000 US dollars for violations of correct accounting in a total of twelve cases. In addition, Aston Martin still has to bear the costs of the procedure. The British racing team has already admitted the offenses it was accused of and accepted the penalty.
According to the FIA, the incorrect financial reports relate to the construction of the new factory, tax relief credits, expenses for the new simulator, wind tunnel fees, bonus payments, costs for external employees, accounting for used inventory, catering services in the factory, expenses for tables and chairs and the booking of sponsorship costs.
Heavier penalty than Williams
Because this was the first year the budget cap was applied, the penalty was relatively mild in the end. In addition, the FIA inspectors exonerated the fact that they did not get the impression that Aston Martin had intentionally broken the rules or wanted to take any advantage of the false reports.
However, because in the end there were several accounting errors that Aston Martin is accused of, the team had to dig much deeper into their pockets than Williams, for example. The team from Grove had already reported supplier costs to the FIA too late in the spring and was fined 25,000 US dollars.
