Red Bull claims they are “surprised and disappointed” by the FIA budget cap report findings, which show that the team exceeded the 2021 financial cap by a minor fraction.
The reigning constructors champions have stated that it is “surprised and disappointed” by the FIA’s findings that it violated the cost cap rules during Max Verstappen’s championship-winning 2021 Formula 1 season.
Formula 1 moves quickly, both on and off the track. Just a day after celebrating Max Verstappen’s second world championship, the team is already responding to the FIA’s findings that they are in violation of the financial cap guidelines for 2021.
The Milton Keynes-based team was found in violation early on Monday of a procedural breach as well as a minor financial overspend violation (less than 5% of the 2021 cap). Aston Martin was also found guilty of a procedural violation.
The most serious penalty is thus that imposed on Red Bull, which includes warnings, fines, restrictions on aero testing, and point deductions for the season in which the offense was committed, in this case 2021.
Red Bull claimed in a statement that it was still certain of its innocence and once more criticized rivals’ “conjecture and positioning” on the subject in the run-up to the FIA budget cap report announcement.
“We note the findings by the FIA of ‘minor overspend breaches of the financial regulations’ with surprise and disappointment,” Red Bull’s statement read.
“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.”
“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.”
Mercedes and Ferrari’s comments regarding the potential for a breach were met with a warning from Red Bull to take some sort of legal action.
The FIA has not yet specified the penalties it will impose on Red Bull and Aston Martin in connection with this incident, but it is obvious that the Bulls do not believe they should face any sanctions.
As we wait and see what the FIA and Red Bull do next, it is obvious that this is a story that will linger for a while.
