"7 million will be like 70 engineers" - Ferrari on why it takes F1's budget cap 'very seriously'

Ferrari's assistant team principal Laurent Mekies explained the budget cap breach's direct effect on his team. He revealed how the Scuderia would have lost significant lap time if Red Bull had indeed breached the regulations.

The French engineer provided insight as to why the budget cap is important for the team. He then further explained the significance of the loss of millions Ferrari could've potentially faced, saying:

"Now, what would you do with whatever numbers you quoted: five of seven or 10 millions? Well, you know, it's a simple calculation. We take it very seriously, because this is a serious amount of lap time. Seven million will be like 70 engineers. Seventy engineers, they will give you a serious amount of lap-time."

Mekies pushed further for transparency in the process. Quoting the loss of millions, he established that these regulations are possibly superior to all, saying:

"So, if you think about the power that these regulations have, these Financial Regulations have, it's probably overpowering both the Technical and Sporting Regulations at the same time. If you think about the amount of lap time that is lying into those sort of numbers."

There are several penalties that Red Bull could face if found guilty of the breach. Exceeding the limit would undoubtedly have given the Austrian team an unfair advantage.

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Ferrari boss claims big involvement in the team on Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz's part

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto recently revealed that drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are actively involved in team meetings. The Scuderia has been heavily criticized for its strategies this year, post which the drivers' involvement became profound.

Binotto explained how the race weekend is teamwork, saying:

"As far as the drivers are part of the project, as they are no external people, simply being there participating but not being involved, they are involved in all our process of improvement, they are involved in our discussions, they are involved in our review post-races and they are involved real time during the race weekend, whatever we are doing so on the strategies, they are involved in the race, in the discussions that we got on the Sunday morning, and as well during the race itself."

It will be interesting to see how Ferrari manages Leclerc's pole at the upcoming Singapore GP. So far, they've managed to throw away the Monegasque's lead multiple times. With just five races to go, the Scuderia might just look for a positive change.