Red Bull Officially Penalized for Cost Cap Breach

After a few agonizing weeks, the FIA has finally announced the penalty for Red Bull after it was found they breached the cost cap in 2021 – and we don’t think it’s enough.

Red Bull has been fined $7 Million USD, and is hit with a 10% reduction in wind tunnel testing for 2023.  It was found that Red Bull inaccurately excluded and/or adjusted costs of £5,607,000 from its budget cap submission of £114,293,000 – which the FIA says constitutes an overspend of £1,864,000.

No points-reduction, no disqualification from races (both would be harsh penalties), however the precedent being set by the FIA with their decision means that teams with massive backing (Ferrari/Mercedes/Aston/etc) are more inclined to just pay the “fine” to gain an advantage.

What is the point of a cost cap, which was agreed by all teams & the FIA, if the World Championship team (and 2x Drivers’ Champion) are only given a slap on the wrist – will we be seeing more teams pay the “fine” in the future?