• Red Bull is fined £6.07 million for exceeding the Formula 1 budget cap by £1.86 million in 2021.
• Their monetary penalty does not include a decrease in their allowed spending for the next year, when the budget cap is $135 million.

For exceeding the Formula 1 budget cap, Red Bull was penalized with a $7 million (£6.07 million) fine and a 10% reduction in allowable aerodynamic research.

According to governing body the FIA, Red Bull overspent by £1.86 million in 2021.

Their monetary penalty does not include a decrease in their allowed spending for the next year, when the budget cap is $135 million.

The 10% reduction is in the amount of time they can spend utilizing computational fluid dynamics or their wind tunnel to develop their car.

“We have been given a large financial and sporting penalty,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “Seven million dollars is a huge sum of money, but the most severe element is the sporting penalty, which is a 10% restriction in our ability to use our wind tunnel and aerodynamic tools.

“That is a significant sum. That is equivalent to 0.25 to 0.5 seconds of lap time. It goes into effect immediately, lasts for a year, and will affect how our 2023 automobile is developed.”

Red Bull admitted their error and went into an alleged “accepted breach agreement” with the FIA before being penalized.

“Why did we consent to it? We decided that it would be best to put the matter to rest. Despite our reluctance, we agree to the penalties “Horner threw in.
Max Verstappen’s 2021 championship would “absolutely not” be tarnished, according to Horner.

According to him, Verstappen “was a tremendously deserving champion,” Laura Scott of BBC Sport reported. He accomplished his goal by winning the race at the year’s final Grand Prix, consigning 2021 to the annals of history. Regardless of inevitable partisan support on either side.

Horner acknowledged that Red Bull missed the chance to test the cost cap in 2020, although many other teams did.

He claimed that they used their intermediate submission from April 2021 as a “dry run” and that the FIA had not provided any comments.

When Verstappen won his first championship in 2021, the FIA had previously only stated that Red Bull had engaged in a “small” infraction, which is defined as anything up to 5% of the cap, or $7.25m, without providing any other information.

The team had “inaccurately omitted and/or modified expenditures amounting to a total of £5,607,000,” according to a statement from the FIA outlining Red Bull’s mistakes.

The team overspent by £1,864,000 in relation to the necessary expenditures as determined by the FIA.

This results in an adjusted overrun of 1.6% and an understatement of accounts of about 5%.

A total of 13 instances of non-compliance were identified, including an understatement of fixed costs and expenditures associated with their new power-unit company, as well as charges for catering, social security, apprenticeships, inventory (unused parts), and non-F1 activities.

Within the following 30 days, the fine must be paid.

According to the FIA, Red Bull would have only exceeded the maximum by £432,652 had it treated a notional tax credit correctly.

Horner noted that because of the “0.37% overrun,” the “10% decrease is quite severe.”

The FIA’s statement continued, “There is no allegation or proof that Red Bull Racing has ever attempted to behave in bad faith, dishonestly or fraudulently, nor has it knowingly withheld any material from the Cost Cap Administration.

Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, applauded the punishment meted out to one of their competitors but urged the FIA to take stronger action in the future against those who “wilfully infringe the rules.”

“We recognize that the cost cap probe is a difficult process that the FI has carried out in a comprehensive and transparent manner, “Black stated.

“I’m relieved that the truth has come to light and that the outcome is what we anticipated – one team violated the expense cap while the other nine complied with the regulations. Punitive punishment is therefore only appropriate.

“When rules are disobeyed in this manner, the FIA’s sanctions must be much more severe in the future if it is to be most successful and serve as a lesson to others.

We anticipate that all teams will now be fully aware of the rules in order to prevent any further violations as a result of the lessons acquired from this process. While we are happy to see them take action, we hope the FIA will act more forcefully in the future against individuals who willfully infringe the law.”

Ferrari disagrees with the conclusion of the FIA’s inquiry and believes the punishment is insufficient for the infraction.

Aston Martin was penalized $450,000 (£388,200) for violating the finance regulations’ procedural requirements.

The price of Aston Martin’s new plant, wind tunnel, and simulator were among the 12 elements that the FIA claimed the company had underreported.

Due to their victory in this year’s championship, Red Bull already had the shortest amount of allowed aerodynamic research time for the first half of 2023.

In an effort to narrow the field, Formula One last year implemented a sliding scale of aerodynamic constraints, giving the lowest-ranked team in the championship the most research time and the highest the least.

As a result of gaining first place in the constructors’ championship, Horner continued, “We become victims of our own success because we have a 5% incremental handicap compared to second and third places.”

This will affect our capacity to perform as planned because we will have 15% less than second and 20% less than third.

Rival teams will still wonder whether the penalty is appropriate, particularly regarding whether it will have any impact on a hugely successful global corporation. They will also wonder why the amounts published are different from those that were circulating in the F1 paddock at the US Grand Prix last weekend.

They will probably also point out that the overspent areas are immaterial because they could have decided to spend more money in other areas as well, but doing so would have resulted in less money being spent on engineering and car design.

[embedpost slug=”red-bull-co-owner-dietrich-mateschitz-passed-away-aged-78″]