F1’s Red Bull Fined $7M, Keeps Titles

Red Bull has been punished for breaching Formula 1’s first cost cap, but its opponents are unlikely to be satisfied.

The F1 team has agreed to a $7 million fine, a 10% reduction in wind-tunnel testing time, and restricted computational fluid dynamics limits as penalties for exceeding the cap by under 5%.

• The FIA determined that Red Bull surpassed the $145 million budget limit enacted last year. The cap dropped to $140 million this year and will be $135 million from 2023 to 2025.
• The team won’t lose any points, allowing it to retain this year’s constructors championship and for Max Verstappen to hold the drivers’ titles from this year and last year.
• Red Bull was already facing the least wind-tunnel testing time among all teams. The FIA distributes time based on the team’s record the previous season.

Rivals’ Road Rage

The punishment appears to be less than what Mercedes, the top constructor every year from 2014 to 2021, and McLaren wanted.

Lewis Hamilton, who lost last season’s driver’s championship in the final lap of the final race to Verstappen, had called for significant punishments, saying “a slap on the wrist won’t be great for the sport.”

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown wrote a letter to the FIA prior to the ruling, stating that cost cap violations “constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations.” 

Red Bull principal Christian Horner called Brown’s claim “absolutely shocking.”