"You will not have a war of words from us"- Aston Martin strikes back at F1 opponents over budget cap controversy

F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Final Practice
Mike Krack, Team Principal of the Aston Martin F1 Team (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Aston Martin has finally responded to rumors that it exceeded the F1 budget cap last season.

Red Bull and Aston Martin have been accused of breaching the sport's budget cap regulations. According to their opponents' calculations, the two teams exceeded the $145 million spending limit in the previous season.

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has responded to the allegations, denying any breach of rules. He added that his team has decided to focus on their form and block out all the noise.

Krack told Motorsports.com:

"We need to look at ourselves. You will not have a war of words from us, we need to concentrate on making progress. This is much more important than using the press to make statements."

Krack explained that Aston Martin had not received any confirmation of a breach by the FIA. He added that the governing body had not yet issued certificates of compliance to all teams for last season. He said:

"It's a process where you give your submission, and then the FIA is analysing this, and comes back with questions, and this process is still going on. So we don't really know what will be the result. There is a discussion going on. We have questions about interpretation, they have questions about interpretation."

Krack said the team was surprised to see its name brought up in this controversy. He reiterated:

"And we were surprised to read our name in this thing. So, let's see. We don't think that we have done anything majorly wrong."

Krack also hit back at other team bosses who are allegedly trying to drag Aston Martin's reputation through the mud based on rumors. According to him, the lack of information has led to a lot of speculation in the paddock, and teams are pointing fingers without cold hard facts backing their allegations.

Krack said these verbal attacks were nothing more than attempts by other teams to distract Aston Martin. He said:

"This is typical paddock, the best defense is attacking. I think at the end of the day, we must not forget, we are significantly less people than most teams are. It is upsetting. I think the most important thing is to keep focus on the weekend. When the Thursday or Friday starts like that, it's important not to distract the people.

Aston Martin record season-best finish at Singapore

Aston Martin is having a disappointing campaign. The team has failed to secure any good results and is stuck in the bottom half of the championship standings.

Lance Stroll has been very slow, with 10th place being his best finish prior to the Singapore GP masterclass. Sebastian Vettel looks to be on a farewell tour, having announced his retirement from the sport earlier this season.

However, everything changed under the lights of Marina Bay. Both the drivers looked alive, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively.

The Silverstone outfit scored 12 points in total and passed both Haas and AlphaTauri in the championship standings, slotting into the seventh position.

The team will aim to ride the momentum into Japan this week and will look to maintain its position in the championship with only five races to go.

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