FIA make decision on stripping Verstappen of World Championship title

The FIA has finally made a decision on the penalties that will be handed upon Red Bull Racing after it has been found that they were guilty of breaching the budget cap in 2021. Many are collectively holding their breath to find out if Max Verstappen will be stripped of his maiden world championship title.

Unfortunately, even though the FIA has already made a decision and it is believed that Red Bull are already aware of the penalties, no public announcement will be made this weekend. According to Auto, Motor und Sport, it has been decided that the announcement will be postponed following the death of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

The penalties were initially planned to be announced sometime during the US Grand Prix weekend taking place from Oct. 21-23. But that will now be delayed for at least a few days. No definite date has been made public for now.

There have been a lot of talks going all around, with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner attempting to convince the FIA to obviously go for a milder punishment that ultimately won't affect Verstappen. Due to the tight nature of last season's competition, even a minor deduction of points could hand the title to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, which is of course what Mercedes wants.

Meanwhile, other team bosses are also lobbying for a different result. A leaked letter from McLaren boss Zak Brown revealed that he feels a sporting punishment is necessary apart from a hefty fine. Even Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto had been vocal about how much advantage Red Bull must have gained by breaching the budget by just a small amount, thus meaning a stronger punishment is necessary in his opinion.

For now, it is rumoured that Red Bull are only facing a fine and reduced wind tunnel time. If this is true, then this won't be the last we will hear of the complaints from the rest of the grid.

A mild penalty could eventually lead teams to risk breaking the budget cap if it means they only need to pay fines and still keep their results on the track. Some of the wealthier teams will be able to afford paying fines to be able to shave a few tenths off their lap times to give them better results.