Toto Wolff admits Mercedes 'in serious trouble' over issue which may incur huge punishment

team principal has admitted that the Silver Arrows may be in breach of the cost cap this season, which would carry a significant punishment if their finances can't be kept under control.

The cost cap, which first came into force in 2021, limits the amount a team can spend on its cars over the course of a calendar year. The ruling was introduced to increase fairness among teams, levelling the playing field and allowing teams with 'poorer' finances to compete with mega-rich opposition.

famously breached the spending limit in 2021 in a huge end-of-season scandal, which threatened the possibility of their titles being stripped away after victory over .

However, they instead had to pay a fine of $7million (£5.4m) and accept a 10 per cent restriction on its aerodynamic testing for a period of 12 months. The outcome could have been more severe had Red Bull not cooperated with the investigation and entered the Accepted Breach Agreement.

This time, Mercedes are the ones running the risk of falling foul of the cost cap. suffered his second big crash in seven days when at the , ending his session prematurely.

After just four laps he hopped out of his W15 and clutched his ribs in pain, but after receiving treatment in the medical centre confirmed that he was not seriously hurt.

However, such frequent damage to the car has increased Mercedes' blood pressure as further work needs to be done before Qualifying on Saturday evening.

Wolff confirmed that aside from Russell's chassis, the entire car would need to be replaced. After also crashed in FP1 and required work to be done, the expenses keep racking up for the Silver Arrows and Wolff is fearful that they may breach the spending limit as a result.

"35G, so that was a really big impact," Wolff said as he explained the damage Russell incurred. "He was taken to the medical centre, but he's okay. But of course, the car is badly damaged. We do have the parts.

"I think we can keep the old chassis, but everything else has to go. The engine has to come out, the gearbox has to be checked and everything else. Two corners of the car are completely gone. So it's serious damage."

Wolff then added: "We're in serious trouble. We are all struggling to stay within the budget cap and of course we had a bad accident with Kimi at Monza. Then the second one with George last week and now again."