MEXICO: Red Bull has been served with a financial as well as a sporting penalty for breaching last year’s cost cap. The FIA on Friday confirmed a $7 million fine and a deduction of 10% wind tunnel time for Red Bull.
The FIA had declared the breach as a “minor overspend.” According to the cost cap regulations, it meant that the team had overspent in the range of $1 to $7.25 million. The FIA finally confirmed the final figure of overspending to be $2.2 million.
The other teams, which adhered to the cost cap, were demanding a financial and sporting penalty for Red Bull. Several team principals claimed that any advantage arising from overspending could give the team a three-year advantage.
After three long weeks of negotiations with the FIA, Red Bull settled for the Accepted Breach Agreement.
As the winner of the constructors’ championship, Red Bull already has less wind tunnel time than the other teams. Red Bull will be allotted 70% of the total hours permitted for the team that finishes last.
In other words, Red Bull would get only 1400 hours out of the maximum 2000 hours received by the team in P10. A further reduction of 10% would effectively leave the Milton Keynes-based team with just 1260 hours.
A statement released by the FIA read that Red Bull Racing was found to have breached the cost cap. However, the Cost Cap Administration felt that Red Bull acted co-operatively throughout the review process and requested further information regarding last year’s expenses.
The administration felt that the team had not acted in bad faith and that no evidence of bad faith or actions in a fraudulent manner were noticed.
The statement added that Red Bull had accepted the ABA offer. The statement went on to explain the nature of overspending.
A tax credit miscalculation affected the cost cap by a tune of £1,431,348 which was considered by the Cost Cap Administration. Apart from that, Red Bull was found to have exceeded the 2021 cost cap by £432,652, a 0.37% overspend.
The FIA also announced Aston Martin’s penalty for their procedural breach. The British racing team was hit with a $450,000 fine.
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