It is the story which everyone in F1 is talking about: Red Bull have been found guilty of breaching the 2021 cost cap.
We now await a punishment from the FIA – but what have Red Bull done wrong? Why was the cost cap introduced, what costs are included and what options are now open to Red Bull?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Formula 1’s cost-cap measures were brought in last year to reduce the lavish spending of big teams – sometimes upwards of $400million – in order to narrow the field and increase the competitiveness of the championship, enabling smaller teams to compete in an even environment.
The other key aspect was to be in keeping with F1’s target of sustainability, with the cap working to limit the amount of money an F1 team can spend in any year to encourage financial-sustainability.
In 2021, the cap was $145m (£114m) – and was originally reduced to $140m this year before an extra allowance of £5m was granted by the FIA due to: the season being 22 races long, the three sprint weekends and rising inflation.
Current plans are for it to be reduced further to £135m for 2023-205 but those figures are not confirmed, especially given the announcement of F1’s record 24-race calendar for 2023, with costs thus increasing for teams.
Essentially, the cap covers all expenditure relating to car performance, including:
Everything not relating to car performance. Specifically:
The FIA completed their analysis of every team’s 2021 financial submissions, submitted back in March, with a view to release certificates of compliance to the new financial regulations.
The findings, therefore, concluded which teams have spent under or over the cost cap.
The results were meant to be originally revealed in late-September, and a second deadline of last Wednesday was extended to Monday, when the findings were finally revealed.
Red Bull are guility of a ‘minor financial breach’, meaning they have spent over the cost cap but under the 5% limit when a breach develops from ‘minor’ to ‘major.’
That 5% figure equates to roughly £6.6m ($7.25m).
While the specific figures were not revealed, reports state Red Bull have gone over the cap by £1m-£1.8m.
Christian Horner insisted before the results that he was “very confident” that the team had not spent over the cost cap limit
Red Bull – who won last year’s Drivers Championship with Max Verstappen as well as this year’s and are on the cusp of the 2022 Constructors’ Championship – are also guilty of a ‘procedural breach.’
Aston Martin are also guilty of a ‘procedural breach’ as were Williams, though they came to an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) earlier this year and paid a $25,000 fine.
The sport’s governing body found that Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas had all complied with the cap limit.
Red Bull issues a strong statement after the FIA’s findings were revealed on Monday, saying they were “surprised and disappointed” with the results.
Red Bull are guility of a ‘minor financial breach’
