Williams has entered into a 'Violation Acceptance Agreement' with the FIA after the team broke the financial regulations enforced in last year's season (2021).
Williams has entered into a 'Violation Acceptance Agreement' with the FIA, after the team broke the financial regulations enforced in last year's season (2021).
F1 introduced a new set of regulations for the 2021 season, coinciding with the introduction of a budget cap of USD 145 million.
Strict controls on how this limit is monitored and regulated are in place, with teams being responsible for documenting their accounts for submission to the FIA.
What has Williams done wrong?
The FIA's cost cap administration notified Williams that a procedural violation occurred after Williams failed to submit its fiscal year 2021 documentation by the March 31, 2022 deadline.
The financial regulations, under Article 5.1 (b), define that teams must submit their "Annual Financial Report Documentation" by this date.
Williams responded by accepting that they had committed such a violation and explained the steps they had taken to avoid this violation.
Given the evidence that Williams had disclosed the violation to the CCA before the deadline, as well as the team being fully cooperative, an offer of an 'Acceptance of Violation Agreement' (ABA) was made to the team.Given the evidence that Williams had disclosed the violation to the CCA prior to the deadline, and the team has been fully cooperative, an offer of an 'Acceptance of Violation Agreement' (ABA) was offered to the team - a remedy for a procedural violation that is provided for in the regulations.
It should be emphasized that although Williams has violated the financial regulations, this does not amount to spending more than the allowable dollar amount - Williams has only committed a date violation in relation to the submission of documents, resulting in the governing body choosing a lesser punishment.
What penalties does Williams face?
Williams accepted the offer described in the ABA, which means they were fined USD 25,000 and had to submit the relevant documentation by May 31.
The FIA has confirmed that Williams submitted the required documentation, paid the fine and also paid the associated costs incurred by the CCA in preparation for the ABA.
As a result, the matter regarding this particular violation is considered a closed case - Williams was the first team to come into conflict with the new financial regulations. For 2022, the budget ceiling has been reduced to $140 million.