The FIA ​​announced on Friday the sanctions imposed on Red Bull for exceeding the cost limit for 2021. Red Bull has set a budget cap of up to $145 million for 2021 by regulation, which is set at £1,864,000 ( $2.16 million) exceeded. That is. Red Bull exceeded the budget cap by 1.86%, but did not exceed 5% of the total allowed, so it was considered a “minor” violation. The people at Milton Keynes have decided to accept the sanctions deal proposed by the FIA. To do so, we had to admit our mistakes, or we would face greater sanctions. For this, they accepted his $7 million sanction and his 10% cut in wind tunnels for next year. This means 7% less actual aerodynamic testing in 2023. During that test time, however, Christian Horner was outraged, claiming how much damage the penalty could hurt his team in the development of the 2023 car.

“Obviously the toughest part is the sport penalty, which reduces your ability to use the wind tunnel and aero tools by 10%. But this is a significant amount, which represents a lap time of 0.25 to 0.5 seconds, which will directly affect next year’s car, which will be on it for 12 months.”

The penalty was 10% of the time Red Bull already had. The 2022 champion was allowed up to 70% of his total time to use the wind tunnel and his CFD simulations. That 10% of his applies to the 70 that Red Bull could have used for his position as the 2022 champion, so in effect he’s a 7% reduction. 63%.

For Horner, the losses are very significant, given that the second classified (Ferrari) will be 75% and the third (Mercedes) will be 80%. All of this is part of the aerodynamic handicap introduced from 2021, with the rules giving the teams with the worst results in the championship more wind tunnel time and simulations. big set.

“By winning the Constructors’ Championship, we clearly fell victim to our own success. Plus an additional 5% disadvantage compared to the second time… less than 15% for the sake of clarity, times in the wind tunnel compared to the 2nd best team in the Constructors’ Championship And we’re 20% shorter than the 3rd team, which is a tight amount, or like I say, delivering 10% can have an impact on how we perform on the track next year.

he defends that they did not profit from the violation

Horner had already said in Austin that being slightly over the budget cap would have no effect on creating a 2021 car or a winning car in 2022. I support the statement that the

But at Mercedes and Ferrari they don’t think the same way. He could surmise that if they spent more money on other things, they wouldn’t stop spending that money on cars. Hamilton has already said in Singapore that he’s surprised Red Bull has brought up to four evolutions to the track for 2021. On top of that, he has enough to spend his $300,000 on spoilers and new floors. , which would have changed the end of the World Cup. car. That World Cup was defined on the final lap between Verstappen and Hamilton, so improvements to Lewis’ car could swing the title in his favor.

But Horner remains adamant that his team’s violations were due to simple problems in interpreting regulations and accounting applications. Nothing directly related to the car. car performance. I’m surprised that no other team is in this position, but it’s great to see that the eight teams fit the bill perfectly. ”

“As I say, I think there are lessons to be learned. Did you see your performance on the course? No. Is there anything you could have done better from an accounting standpoint? But we’re thinking on all fronts, not just on our side,” he concluded.

This situation leaves many regrets

Christian Horner is understandably angry. It should be part of your role. If he were happy about the FIA ​​sanctions, it would all make no sense. is wondering. Seven million won’t be a problem for them. And many believe it may not be so bad for Red Bull that the wind tunnel reduction was less than expected, as Horner claims, as they already base 2022 on his 2023 ‘s champion car and just because your rival has a longer test period doesn’t mean you’ll find the key to catching up.

And all this leaves big questions. The main one: Will this sanction be significant enough to stop other teams from going over budget caps in the years to come?