Formula One’s travelling circus came to Singapore wondering if Max Verstappen could claim his second world title, only to be questioning how he won his first. Other teams were yesterday privately briefing that Red Bull have punctured the ceiling by some £10million. The FIA are still auditing the figures for all 10 teams and are due to issue their conclusion on Wednesday. Red Bull, it is understood, will argue that when they submitted their accounts to the FIA they were more than £3m below the limit and that the goalposts have been moved — and that is a case of what to count in the permitted spend, and what not to. Unusually, FIA president Ben Sulayem is not in Singapore but he has been in contact with the teams by phone for emergency talks. At least until it is claimed Red Bull are over-budget this year, too.

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