David Coulthard does not believe Mercedes will risk breaking cost cap rules next year in the wake of Red Bull's punishment for their 2021 overspend.
Last month the FIA revealed Red Bull had exceeded the budget cap the previous season by around £1.8m, which came down to £432k once a tax credit was applied. As punishment, they were fined £6m and will have 10% of their wind tunnel time taken away from them over the next 12 months.
Some rivals seemed underwhelmed by that punishment. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin appeared to be one of them, as he baulked at Christian Horner's claim that his team gained no competitive advantage from the overspend, stressing: "Money buys performance".
But Coulthard does not believe the Silver Arrows will be tempted to ignore the cost cap going forward. "Let's say McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all go over the cost cap next year because they're willing to take a 10 per cent reduction," said the Scot.
"They won't do it because 10% is 10% – nobody wants a 10% reduction. So of course they're going to say that, because the shoe is not on their foot. But as sure as they are in Formula 1, there'll be something that's controversial about their team in the future."
His words echoed those of fellow former racer Mika Hakkinen, who described Red Bull's punishment as "significant" in a blog post. "The FIA recognised that there could be various levels of overspend and reasons for doing so," wrote the Finn. "Red Bull's penalty for the minor overspend is still significant. Far more than the financial or aerodynamic penalty, it has been an uncomfortable experience for the team.
""The good thing is that no team will want to risk repeating this next year, so although it has been a very difficult and controversial moment for Red Bull, I believe it will benefit F1 in the long term because every team boss will be determined not to have this kind of negative publicity in future."
That final point about publicity is exactly what Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said himself when asked for his reaction to Red Bull's penalty in Mexico. "Beyond the sporting penalty and fine, there is also reputational damage," the Austrian told Sky Sports.
"In a world of transparency and good governance, it's just not on any more. Whatever team you are, you're responsible for representing a brand, your employees and your partners, and that's why for us it wouldn't be [something they would do]."
