The FIA announced on Friday of the Mexican Grand Prix that it had reached an Accepted Infringement Agreement with Red Bull after it was discovered that the Austrian team had exceeded the budget limit of 145 million dollars [about 128 million euros at the time ] in the last campaign of 2021.
Those from Milton Keynes received a fine of 7 million dollars [7.04 million euros at current exchange rates], in addition to a 10% reduction in their time for aerodynamic tests in the next 12 months, something that the team manager, Christian Horner , has called it “enormous” and “draconian”.
If Red Bull had not accepted the international federation’s proposal, the case would have been referred to the Formula 1 Cost Limit Adjudication Panel , and could have gone all the way to the FIA International Court of Appeal if the team had wanted to fight. against any decision.
During a press conference at the Autodromo Hermanos RodrÃguez, the British boss explained how a different interpretation for areas such as tax exclusion, the status of spare parts, catering costs, sick pay and redundancies had caused a mess of 1.8 million pounds [2.1 million euros at the exchange rate], of which 1.4 million [1.63 million euros] would correspond to taxes that were not excluded.
However, he said that Red Bull ultimately considered that the best thing for Formula 1 in general was to put an end to the case and accept the proposal of the governing body: “If we had lengthened the administrative process, to go to an affective appeal, It could have taken months.”
“Beyond that, the International Court of Appeal could have taken more months, so we could have been in something of 12 months to know the resolution,” he explained. “The amount of speculation and commentary that has occurred in the paddock has made us feel that it was good, for us and for the FIA, and for the good of Formula 1, that we close the chapter, and we do it today.
“We accept the sanctions reluctantly, but we accept them,” said the head of the team that has won its fifth constructors’ world title, the first since 2013.
Horner pointed to the immaturity of the financial regulations , given that they were not introduced until 2021, and that was the first year in which a full audit had been completed, and called for a lesson to be learned given the complexity of it and the accounts of each team.
“The cost cap is an important part of Formula 1, it is for its future, but it has to be in a consistent, applied and developed way,” he said. “With such a new concept of incredibly complex rules, around different entities and subsidiary companies, companies that are owned by OEMs, some independent, and some that are a subsidiary of an energy drink manufacturer.”
The impact on the aerodynamic development and the time in the wind tunnel will harm Red Bull in its attempt to defend the world title next year, as well as in the 2024 car given the duration of the punishment. However, Horner assured that fighting the case further could have opened a process with harsher sanctions.
“Within a new regulation like this and the set of sanctions, it could be even more draconian,” he said. “So while we feel harmed, we believe that there were absolutely mitigating circumstances in this case, we don’t believe that dragging out the investigation is in anyone’s interest.”
“I think it’s been a great learning experience for us. I’m sure others have learned from watching from the sidelines, it is important that the cost cap is important to the future success of Formula 1, but it has to be applied in the right way. right way,” said the Red Bull boss.
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