"Is the policing sufficient?"- Ferrari 'surprised' to see Red Bull using a 'lightweight chassis' in 2022 F1 season despite budget cap

Ferrari is currently doubting the FIA's policing of their budget cap introduced at the start of the season. The Italian team is worried that Red Bull might have exceeded their budget in developing a lightweight chassis that is set to arrive later this season.

The Austrian team is set to introduce a chassis that is 4 kg lighter than its current one by the end of the season, leading to even more performance for its drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Ferrari's Mattia Binotto is in serious doubt about the FIA's policing capabilities as he believes such a strict budget cap cannot allow Red Bull to bring in a lightweight chassis upgrade.

As reported by BBC Sport, Mattia Binotto said:

“The number of people in the FIA monitoring it is very little. It has to improve for the future because it would be really bad if somehow a championship was dictated by a financial regulation and not technical or sporting. I cannot know what they are doing, if they have a [lighter] chassis or not, but the budget cap is always a concern."

The team boss finished by saying:

"Ferrari would never be capable of introducing a lightweight chassis or a different chassis through a season simply [because of the] budget cap and I would be very surprised if a team is capable of doing it. And if they are, it is back to the regulation itself – is it fair enough, is it equitable enough, is the policing sufficient?”

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New TD has nothing to do with Ferrari's poor performance at Spa, claims Mattia Binotto

Ferrari's Mattia Binotto denies that the new Technical Directive imposed by the FIA has anything to do with his team's poor performance at the 2022 F1 Belgian GP. The new TD relates to the FIA's metric for the number of vertical oscillations possible with the new floor designs in 2022.

Many expected Red Bull and Ferrari to be negatively affected by the new TD, helping other teams such as Mercedes to bridge the gap to the front for the remainder of the season. The Italian and Austrian teams have been relatively well-matched throughout the season. Still, Red Bull has made fewer errors and has surpassed the Scuderia, thanks to their brilliant strategic calls. At Spa, however, the Prancing Horse was not even close to Red Bull when it came to sheer pace.

Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, the team principal said:

“The effects of the technical directive are completely negligible as far as Ferrari is concerned. That is not the answer to the question why our performance was so bad.”

With Max Verstappen and team currently carrying all the momentum, things are looking rather bleak for the Maranello-based outfit. To make matters worse for the Scuderia, Verstappen claims he is already prepared for his upcoming home race in Zandvoort, making him the clear favorite. However, as the sport has proven in the past, the tide can change towards any driver or team very quickly.