The FIA, the organization regulating the sport, has ruled Red Bull guilty of exceeding the Formula 1 budget limit.
The FIA said that Red Bull exceeded the $145 million (£114 million) cap for 2021, adding that the violation was “small,” the lesser of the two infraction types.
This indicates that the team’s overpayment was less than 5%, or $7.25 million.
A procedural violation of the cap was also determined to have been committed by Red Bull and Aston Martin.
The FIA withheld information on how much Red Bull went above the limit, by how much. And what penalties would be imposed. However, it said it was “at this time deciding the best course of action.”
Red Bull noticed the FIA’s conclusions “with surprise and dismay,” the company stated.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic won the Astana Open final for his 90th ATP championship
“Our 2021 application was below the cost-cap level; therefore, we need to analyze the FIA’s conclusions carefully,” the team said, “since our assessment that the relevant expenses are below the 2021 cost-cap number persists.
Despite the speculation and positions of others, there is a procedure outlined in the rules with the FIA that we will respectfully adhere to as we weigh all of our choices.
Both parties have the option of challenging the decision.
A reprimand, a penalty from drivers’ and constructors’ championship points for the offending season, a ban from one or more race stages, restrictions on aerodynamic or another testing, and a decrease of the team’s cost ceiling are all possible sanctions for a “small” violation.
“With regard to this first year of the implementation of the financial restrictions, the involvement of the FIA cost-cap administration has been confined to assessing the reports provided by the competitors and that no complete official investigations have been opened,” the FIA statement said.
Spending too much money is not a procedural infraction; it is incorrectly filling out paperwork. Williams was also held accountable earlier this year and given a $25,000 fine.
Earlier on Monday, Red Bull team head Christian Horner reiterated his view that the team was under the quota in 2021. A year in which Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen engaged in a contentious championship battle. That was decided at the year’s last race.
Horner said, “We’re extremely certain we’re inside the cap and within those financial restrictions.”
Therefore, we were astonished by the rumors and charges spread by other teams. We are waiting for the FIA’s procedure to conclude and for the results. Anything less than cooperation would surprise us much.
Red Bull has the option to reach a “settlement agreement” with the FIA in addition to perhaps filing an appeal.
In this case, a team admits fault, and the FIA applies the proper punishment.
If a settlement cannot be made, a panel of impartial judges will hear the case, review the evidence, and determine if the offense warrants punishment.
After that, if the team is still unsatisfied, it may appeal its decision to the FIA’s international court of appeal.
Aston Martin declined to comment. owever, it is believed that their view is that they regretted their budget limit violation in 2021. And that they spent less than the total allowed. Their breach was caused by administrative procedures that they believe represent a complicated legal interpretation.
Mattia Binotto, the team principal of Ferrari, said on Sunday that even a supposedly “small” violation was a severe offense. And went into depth on the importance of overspending to a team’s ability to compete.
If there is a violation, the punishment must be severe, according to Binotto. We know how much even a little deviation from the budget limit would have meant in terms of performance since our automobile was created with that in mind.
“$5 million is around half a second, $1 to 2 million is 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. And this may be the difference between a second on the grid and a pole.
It is roughly 2021, additionally over the following seasons. I anticipate complete openness and clarity in their talks.
Toto Wolff, the team principal for Mercedes F1, has also advocated. It’s advocated for openness about the procedure used to determine the severity of any offense.