This is why Mercedes repaired Hamilton's car during red flag in Hungary

The crash of Valtteri Bottas last weekend caused a lot of controversy. Literally and figuratively. About the driver himself, but also about the budget cap. Yet there was one moment that stood out that perhaps not everyone noticed. 

Indeed,Lewis Hamilton, under the red flag, also had to make some adjustments to his front wing. The question is why? Technical expert Sam Collins of F1TV thinks he knows the answer. "They fixed the tyre temperature sensor on the inside of the front wing with tape, but what surprised me is that they didn't just decide to replace the whole front wing."

The question then becomes, why wasn't the front wing completely replaced? "This could be down to the FIA, but it could also be down to the budget cap," says Sam Collins. Here he then goes into a little more detail.

The budget cap and its impact

Because these rules are quite complicated and detailed. There is a different impact for almost every specific situation. The costs of such a crash and recovery, depending on how the crash occurs and what the consequences are, are quite high. Yet there is a way to get out of this.

"The regulations allow the budget ceiling to be broken, but only by five per cent and under very specific circumstances. A car sent into the barriers at 51g is more or less the definition of force majeure (beyond the team's control). If it is rejected then it goes off the development budget of the 2022 car."

In short: teams like Mercedes and Red Bull, but also all other teams, will want to avoid spending money on extra costs thanks to a violent crash.