FIA CONFIRMS RED BULL BREACHED 2021 COST CAP
02 Red Bull, which won the drivers’ championship last year with Max Verstappen, breached the 2021 cost cap rules. The FIA officially confirmed on 10 October 2022 that the team had failed to comply with the allotted spending limit last season. Innuendo to that effect had been circulating during the weeks beforehand.
The initial reports, based on paddock gossip, suggested Red Bull had committed a so-called ‘material breach’ – that is, spent more than 5% over the limit of $145million established in the regulations. In addition, it was reported that a ‘minor overspend’ – by an amount less than 5% over the limit – had been committed by Aston Martin.
This spawned a wave of strong statements from the bosses of many other teams – in particular Toto Wolff, whose team battled with Red Bull for the drivers’ and constructors’ titles last season. The Mercedes boss said that the breach of regulations by rivals was “an open secret in the paddock” and added that any overspending could not only have affected the outcome of last year’s championship, but also subsequent ones.
“The crucial part is that if you’ve been over in 2021, then you’ve been over in ’22,” he said. “That means you have an advantage in ’23. If it’s true that they’ve [Red Bull] homologated the lightweight chassis this year, they may use it next year. So it’s really a cascade of events that can be influential in all of the three championships.”
Such comments sparked an angry reaction from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “Unless there is a clear withdrawal of those statements, we will be taking it incredibly seriously and looking at what the options available to us are,” he said, adding that he was “100%” sure Red Bull had stayed below the $145 million limit.
The FIA’S statement may have been a disappointment to some of the more strident voices in the paddock, since it confirmed Red Bull had committed a minor overspend rather than a material breach, and Aston Martin and Williams were guilty of ‘procedural breaches’ only. In Williams’ case, the breach was already a matter of record and caused by delayed receipt of paperwork.
As this issue of GP Racing closed, the FIA had not revealed any details about the Red Bull case – neither about the discrepancies between the team’s calculations and its own, nor the amount by which Red Bull, in its opinion, exceeded the limit. The matter of possible sanctions also remained open: the regulations provide several options such as a public reprimand, a deduction of constructors’ or drivers’ championship points, exclusion from events, limitations on aero testing, or a fine. It is likely the matter may go before an adjudication panel, since Red Bull insists it was in compliance with the rules.
“Our 2021 submission was below the cost cap limit, so we need to carefully review the FIA’S findings as our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost cap amount,” said Red Bull. “Despite the conjecture and positioning of others, there is of course a process under the regulations with the FIA which we will respectfully follow while we consider all the options available to us.”