The cost cap scandal has reached a conclusion with red bull and FIA successfully reaching an agreement.
FIA deemed red bull guilty of breaching the 2021 cost cap. The team denied the allegations so far. However, red bull and FIA officially reached an agreement over the cost cap breach on Friday ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
FIA has made many details public including the long-awaited punishment for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit.
“The Cost Cap Administration recognized that Red Bull Racing has acted cooperatively throughout the review process and has sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner, that this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence that RBR (Red Bull Racing) has sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, nor has it wilfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration,”
said the FIA.
“In these circumstances, the Cost Cap Administration offered to RBR an ABA to resolve this matter. That offer was accepted by RBR.”
Penalty for red bull
The summary of the report clarified that red bull conducted a “minor” overspending. Red bull overspent the cap by £1,864.000 or 1.6% over the 2021 budget cap of $145 million. However, the governing body acknowledged the fact that if Red bull had applied “the correct treatment within its Full Year Reporting Documentation of their Notional Tax Credit within its 2021 submission of a value of £1,431,438” and hence the team would have gone over the tax by $432,652 or 0.37%.
Red bull will have to pay $7 million in sanctions. The team has also received a minor sporting penalty for breaching the budget.
The team will lose 10% of restricted wind tunnel testing accompanied by a reduction in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) limits.
Relating this to red bull’s current championship position the team’s allotted wind tunnel testing will drop from 70% to 63%.
This can affect the development of aero for the 2023 car. The 10% can cost anywhere between 2-3 sessions of aerodynamic testing.
But how much will this affect red bull, in reality, is a question as the team already has a strong car aerodynamically. It’s sure that the team will not suddenly drop into the midfield or even come out of the top 3.
However, it can be good for rivals Mercedes and Ferrari who can close up on the gap with their superior slotted wind tunnel testing times. Ferrari already has a fast car and Mercedes is ever-improving.
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