When Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both crashed in Q3 on the Friday of the recent Austrian Grand Prix the degree of damage sustained to both their Mercedes F1 W13’s didn’t just create an unwanted headache for their team, it exposed a deficiency in Formula 1’s regulative framework. It wasn’t only the damage sustained to both cars and the availability of spare parts; it was also the heavily restricted amount of time available to the team to perform the repairs. It is clear the cost cap is creating the need for teams to repair parts on-site when things break or drivers crash. Importantly, we need to remember that because of the cost capping under which the teams are now regulated...
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