F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Cost cap debate rages in the paddock

• Paddock rumours suggested two teams had broken the 2021 cost cap rules.
• The FIA were due to rule on the matter yesterday - but postponed their ruling to next Monday.
• Max Verstappen and Christian Horner claim Red Bull have done nothing wrong.
• Lewis Hamilton says that if Mercedes chose to break the rules, he would have won the 2021 title.
• Sky and the Daily Mail have reported that Red Bull breached the 2021 cost cap by a "minor" amount which will not affect the 2021 championship.

Hamilton: Extra Mercedes spending would have changed F1 2021 title outcome

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"The significance of Austin? I was born there. It is close to my heart. America does sport better than anyone."

"To be honest, I'm not really busy with these kind of things. It's up to the teams and the FIA and I just need to focus on the driving. There's not much more to say on that. We'll find out on Monday, I guess." 

"Keen on resolving it? I wouldn't say there is a problem.

"I am just taking time to figure out what will be the best thing for me.

"There is no rush. I feel no pressure to quickly sign something.

"I want to take the right amount of time. I won't just sign the first contract to be back on the grid.

"I'll keep going with the season and it will become clear what is best for me.

"There's nothing you don't know! Full transparency.

"Good results help, they make everything better.

"This isn't a question of whether I still want to do it. I do.

"The result felt good but doesn't change my course [for next season].

"That's why I want to be at the front."

"The pressure is normal. In F1 there is a lot of pressure from your team, the fans.

"Next year's Chinese Grand Prix will be a special moment. Max has his Orange Army, hopefully I have the same thing in Shanghai!"

"It's not rocket-science, just pay attention to the fuel level. There's not a lot to change. You can talk about it for hours, but it's not going to change anything. 

"It was just a very messy weekend and I think that was a prime weekend of how you don't want a weekend to go. We've shown we know how to do it." 

Leclerc: "Well as I've said before Singapore, we need to focus on ourselves, execute the Sunday. The performance is not what we've lacked. The performance was always strong to fight for wins but some were off. It's about putting everything together. That's where we are focusing on at the moment and this is the step we have to do to fight for the championship."

"We've got a very different car this year, one that is very solid on every track. Red Bull will be very strong here." 

Zhou: "We will have a new front wing for both cars. We haven't run too many upgrades compared to midfield rivals. Hopefully it works as expected."

"The food here is great!"

"I think it will be a bit more of a struggle. It's not going to be straightforward." 

"Relieved, happy, pleased.

"It was a bit sad that I haven't had a top five this year. So I was happy but it was a sad reality of 'oh, it's been a tough year'.

"The sport can turn around as quickly as a couple of hours on a Sunday."

"It's a big one. It's cool to be back, fans are in full force. Every driver has loyal followers here, they make t-shirts of you."

"It would make it a little bit extra special, because of our relationship with Honda. It was a shame we couldn't be here last year, in the title fight. But we need a perfect weekend, that's for sure." 

Zhou, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell and Ricciardo are in the second part of today's FIA presser.

"I'm still evaluating all the options. I'm considering everything but I don't really have anything to say at the moment." 

"Very high to be honest. I have a lot of trust in Mohammed and his team. Still, there's a few things in the race weekend and other topics that we face. They're willing to improve and learn which is positive compared to the past. I trust completely what they're doing and what the outcome will be next week with the cost cap. I have no doubts on anything" 

"The first time I watched was when Seb won the title with Red Bull. At Turn 1 I remember lots of sparks!

"That was the first time I watched F1 since 2007."