Lewis Hamilton will struggle to accept missing out on the 2021 drivers' title to Max Verstappen if Red Bull are deemed to have broken cost cap rules, according to Johnny Herbert.
Speculation suggests Red Bull and Aston Martin may have overspent last season. Both teams have denied any wrongdoing and said they expect to have no issues when the FIA reveals its findings on the subject.
But the rumours only intensified when the governing body pushed back its announcement from Wednesday this week to next Monday. That delay is assumed to be an indicator that at least one team has been deemed to have fallen foul of budget regulations.
Hamilton has already made it clear that he would want to see any team that exceeded the cost cap punished accordingly. And if it emerges that Red Bull did overspend last season, former racer and Sky Sports pundit Herbert thinks it will be tough for the Mercedes star to accept losing the title to Verstappen.
"I do get [where Lewis is coming from]. We don't know what the situation is at the present time, hopefully Monday is when we really know," he said. "But I can understand from a driver's point of view.
"You put your heart and soul in trying to put the best performances you can within the cockpit to go as fast you possibly can. Then you hear the rumours that maybe someone has overspent. Then we know if that's the case there's going to be advantage from that.
" When that advantage is something you hear about and maybe know about, it makes it harder to accept certain situations that have happened in the past or present time. I understand what his thinking is, but we're not accountants and we don't know what the whole issue is and we have to wait and see."
Red Bull chief Christian Horner has made it clear on several occasions that he does not believe his team has done anything wrong. He has also said multiple times that he is "absolutely confident" they did not overspend in 2021 and that claims to the contrary will be disproven.
He went on to suggest rivals are using the subject to try to dull the shine of Verstappen, who could secure back-to-back titles at Suzuka this weekend. "The amount of noise that's been around other topics, one can only think it's designed to be a bit of a distraction. We're very happy with where we are, with where our submission for the cap is and all focus is on this weekend," he told Sky.
