Lewis Hamilton could possibly be crowned the 2021 World Champion after speculations about Red Bull breaching the budget cap have come into play. FIA officials are currently looking into the teams' budgets for last year and reviewing their entire spending. The final report is due on Wednesday, and so far, there has been no hint from them about any of the teams breaching the same. However, Red Bull and Aston Martin are among those who are, according to the reports. If this is true, there could be a hefty penalty for them.
A monetary fine would still be okay for the team. However, since the FIA has not revealed the exact punishment for a budget breach, there is a chance that it could be a reduction in last year's points. If that happens, Lewis Hamilton could be crowned the World Champion. Since Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were only 8 points apart after the season ended, a point penalty could get the Briton an 8th championship and leave Verstappen without any. Toto Wolff, Mercedes' team principal, believes that the FIA will take the budget scandal into serious account.
"The cost cap is probably the most important evolution of regulations to keep a level playing field," Toto said. "It is of huge importance that these regulations are policed. The FIA, and particularly Mohammed (ben Sulayem, their president), have shown a pretty robust stance on enforcing all kinds of regulations."
Fans support Lewis Hamilton for the championship
The 2021 season saw one of the most controversial ends that the sport has ever witnessed. Since the race in Abu Dhabi, many Lewis Hamilton fans have been disappointed that he lost the championship on the very last lap of the race. After news of the budget cap breach came out, many of them supported him on Twitter. Have a look:
This refers to the possibility that Red Bull would not allow Hamilton to be crowned and to prevent it from happening, they would resort to bribing the officials.
If the FIA officials decide to disqualify a team for breaching the cost cap, Red Bull in particular, then Hamilton could become the 2021 World Champion.
Some believe that won't happen and Max Verstappen will retain 2021 World Championship.
Many arguments were followed up in support of Lewis Hamilton after the season, but there was nothing that could have been done since the season was over. Though there was an investigation that analyzed the final laps of the race, no steps were later taken and all the actions were justified.
Max Verstappen has been dominating ever since and this has rolled over into the current season. As we head into the final races, there is a positive chance that the Dutchman could clench his second World Title in a row.