Red Bull has agreed on a penalty with the FIA for breaching Formula 1’s budget cap in 2021, it has been reported.
The newly crowned Constructors’ champions were the only team found to have committed a “minor overspend” of less than five percent above the $145m limit in place for last season.
In reality, the figure Red Bull exceeded the cap by is estimated to be around $1.8m due to several reasons, including a tax issue in the UK and catering costs for their staff.
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More details are expected to be revealed on Friday after the team called a press conference at 5:30 pm UK time, this after the matter was put on hold last weekend following the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
The meeting also comes as Red Bull is rumoured to receive a fine plus a 25% reduction in aero testing for 2023 as part of an Accepted Breach Agreement made with the FIA.
This ABA is a perfectly legitimate resolution to the matter under the financial regulations to avoid a long, drawn-out court process, and the details of it will be made public to avoid a repeat of the secret 2019 agreement Ferrari made over its power unit.
But some will of course suggest this agreement means Red Bull has escaped lightly, although The Race reports such a penalty was always the likely goal for the governing body rather than deducting 2021 Drivers’ Championship points from Max Verstappen… for example.
In fact, even Mercedes acknowledge that expecting such an outcome was unrealistic.
“The FIA must make the right choice and the penalty must reflect the violation,” team boss Toto Wolff told La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
“I don’t think you can go back to the 2021 world title because with a smaller violation that is, according to the rules, not realistic. But it should be fairer and clearer in the future.
“The Financial Regulations are just as important as the technical and sporting rules.
“If you are disqualified for a technical violation, you should be able to get that for a violation of the financial regulations. Even though these rules are new.
“There must be an adequate penalty. There are enough rumours, but the FIA has to decide in the end.”
In addition, Aston Martin is also understood to have agreed on a financial penalty with the governing body for their procedural breach, also linked to the tax issue that impacted Red Bull.
Earlier in the year, Williams settled a $25,000 fine for a similar procedural breach of the financial regulations.