Red Bull could be set to escape severe punishment for breaching last year’s budget cap in Formula 1, with a report stating that its overspend was ‘minor’.
In Singapore, reports emerged that two teams, one of which was Red Bull, exceeded F1’s budget cap of $145 million last year.
However, it appears that Red Bull may have only breached the cap by $1m, according to the Daily Mail.
The FIA is set to issue certificates of compliance to teams on Wednesday, but it is believed that there may be a delay for some outfits.
Exceeding the quota by less than five per cent is considered to be a minor violation, and if this is the category that Red Bull falls into, it is set to escape a grave punishment.
The report suggests that rival teams accused Red Bull of overspending the budget by £10m, which would be considered a serious breach of the financial regulations.
The FIA has outlined in its rulebook that the most excessive penalties for a budget cap violation could go as far as exclusion from the World Championship.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said it was “unrealistic” to expect that Max Verstappen would be stripped of his maiden F1 title if Red Bull was found guilty.
However, he suggested that it was an “open secret” in the paddock that two teams were being investigated, a comment that angered Horner.
“How on earth can any team know that a team is in breach or not?” Horner said last weekend in Singapore.
“We don’t even know if we’re in breach or not. We don’t even know until next week, until the process has been completed.
“So perhaps, when these accusations are made, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
“And, you know, we take umbrage, and extremely seriously the remarks that have been made, because, you know, is it any coincidence that Max has his first shot at winning a world title and here we are talking nothing but cost caps, you know, rather than the phenomenal performance that he has had this year.”
Horner is right — how would Toto have any idea if Red Bull or any other team are in breach of the budget unless he has spies within teams? And personally I find it hard to believe Red Bull would even do this on purpose, just doesn’t seem like their style. If they ran out of money and started losing it would be more their style to complain endlessly like Mercedes about how the budget needs to be increased instead of cheat. These two teams are grade A crybabies.
wolff is really vicious. he was the one demanding action by fia over a gross overspend. and he enlisted binnoti to try and reinforce his case. i do hope that rbr are not penalized, especially if there is a 1m$ overspend as this was the result of hamiltons attack. i do hope that horner retaliates
to be honest if was other way round Horner and Red Bull would be screaming from the roof tops, the team complains the most about every team, they always then claim we are innocent if found out. Last year was a total farce start to finish, both Red Bull and Mercedes bending and twisting the rules, in fact last race rule book thrown away. Should all be about racing not politics.
yeah, but usually horner is right…..that is the difference !
yeah, but usually horner is right…..that is the difference !
Toto Wolf, Binnoti and FIA (there respective teams) should be investigated for false claims of a series matter. There should be no tolerance for such petty games and crying “Wolf” if this or that occurred. The financials should only be to FIA’s board and that of the team only. This message should be carri d to all teams and harsh penalty if it occurs again would be warranted.
Wow when you guys are done sniffing horners shorts and done licking his sack and can then hopefully get your head out of his ass maybe you can get some oxygen to your twisted little brains
Rules are rules you break them you should be punished period
Japan 2022 proved that even rules as basic as awarding points at the end of a race are ambiguous or not even written at all. And here we are, with some lower-IQ team principals thinking there can be no chance for any ambiguities in the regulations regarding the cost cap? Come on, people. Obviously Red Bull wouldn’t knowingly over-spend, so don’t you think there’s a slightly higher probability that there might be some varying interpretations of potentially poorly-written regulations, as opposed to underhanded cheating? I’m beginning to think Formula 1 fans are among the stupidest fans in the sporting world. Sky Sports spent the entire Japanese Grand Prix quoting rules for awarding points that were written specifically for the scenario in which a race cannot resume and finishes under red flags. We heard them for over an hour misleading people about points, and it was mostly because A) they’re not good at reading, B) they didn’t think to send someone to the stewards office during the 90 minute delay to ask for clarification about points in the given scenario, and C) the rule for the scenario in Japan hadn’t yet been written by FiA. But the financial rules must be perfect, right? And everyone “reading” them must interpret them all in the exact same way, right? The response to Red Bull being $1M over a $145M cost cop when their previous expenditures – like Ferrari and Mercedes – were typically around $450M is laughable. Oh, and Zak Brown is not a smart guy, obviously.
Hamilton 8 x FIA Rules F1 Champion.
Braketester 2 x Massi Orange Challenge Cup Champion.