This Saturday at the 2022 F1 United States Grand Prix the usual press conference of the team managers will take place, nothing out of the ordinary, but there is a lot of expectation after it was known that Mattia Binotto was going to be present, Zak Brown and, above all, Christian Horner .
Several paddock sources assure that the director of Red Bull intends to reveal there the scope of the financial penalty that the FIA imposes on the team due to the violation of the budget limit regulation in 2021. For now, the international federation has reported that the case of the energy drinks team for spending more than the 145 million dollars allowed [around 128 million euros at the time the regulations were signed] is considered “minor”, that is, it has not exceeded by more than five million the limit, but it is still a reason for sanction.
The Red Bull boss could reveal the figure to try to shed some light on the extent of the alleged advantage his team would have enjoyed. A scenario that would tip the balance in favor of those from Milton Keynes in the event that the fine is less than the 4 million dollars discussed [just under 4.1 million euros at current exchange rates].
In addition, in recent hours a rumor has emerged that would have opened another dispute between the FIA and Red Bull, which is the remuneration that Adrian Newey receives [more than 10 million euros] and his role in the team’s organizational chart.
If, as has been reported in the paddock, the technical director provides his services through his own company [with which Red Bull has a collaboration contract], an attempt could be made to pass off that expense as an extra not subject to the limit budget, a kind of advice that would release a gap in the exception of the three highest salaries that are outside the financial cap.
The position that would have freed Newey’s ‘external’ status would thus be available for another of the better paid employees, and in that scenario a possible “minor” infraction falls, since the fourth highest floor paid by Red Bull does not usually exceed €7.5 million .
On the other hand, speculation that the Milton Keynes team’s budgets may have exceeded the limit on catering and food services raises suspicions. “We all have that expense item in the budget,” said one person from a rival team, “but it makes little sense to identify that expense as a reason to go over the limit.”
Let’s say it’s easy to get that cost out of budgets, but in reality, if you spend less in other areas, catering adjusts, so it’s a game of strategy to see who’s smarter.
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