Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has said that Toto Wolff's comments regarding the application of sporting penalties for breaches of the financial cap have been misquoted. With team collusion under the spotlight at the moment, particularly in the wake of Zak Brown's open letter calling for the introduction of 'secret ballots' for F1 Commission voting, Wolff said on Saturday that he thought it 'odd' that three teams voted against sporting penalties being handed down for financial regulation breaches. But Binotto said that Wolff's comments aren't quite accurate, as the provision for sporting penalties are already outlined as part of the regulations. This would mean that an overspend could result in penalties such as points deductions, grid penalties, or even exclusion. Speaking in light of the recent F1 Commission meeting where the financial regulations, as well as discussion of how to tighten up further loopholes and grey areas, were on the agenda, Binotto said that the discussion at the meeting only revolved around penalties being applied for procedural errors, such as late filing, rather than an actual overspend or breach of the budget cap. “I’m sure Toto’s remarks have been misquoted, because he was also at the F1 Commission meeting and he knows that’s not how the discussion went," Binotto exclusively told RacingNews365. "In fact, the sporting penalties are already present in the Financial Regulations that we as Ferrari voted for in the WMSC in 2019. "What was discussed in the meeting – when anyway no formal vote about this topic was on the agenda - only applied to any possible procedural infraction, that is any eventual errors when reporting all transactions relating to the Financial Regulations, for which in fact, financial penalties are already in place." Binotto explained that Ferrari do believe in sporting penalties for infringements, but that further discussions are still needed to finalise all details before going to a formal vote. “We all agree that also in this case there should be sporting penalties in the event of a serious infringement," Binotto explained. "But we, and others believe that it is necessary first to clarify any possible doubts about the guidelines, a task we are all involved in along with the FIA and which we hope will be completed as soon as possible. It is hoped that these clarifications and a subsequent new vote in favour of sporting penalties will hopefully take place before the end of May.”
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