Red Bull F1 penalty prediction made after FIA 'colonoscopy' of team's accounts

30 October 2023 , 06:00

1291     0

Christian Horner thinks Red Bull could suffer in 2024 from their budget cap penalty (Image: Getty Images)

Christian Horner insists his Red Bull team may have yet to experience the full impact of its penalty for breaking Formula 1 budget cap rules.

An overspend across the 2021 season was first revealed a year ago. A £6m fine was levied by the FIA for what it called a "minor" breach of the rules, while the more impactful penalty was the 10 percent of wind tunnel testing time taken away from the team over the 12 months that followed.

Team principal Horner called that punishment "draconian" at the time and was adamant that it would have a huge impact. But if it has made a difference then it has hardly been noticed in 2023, given Red Bull strolled to both titles virtually unopposed.

That reduction in wind tunnel time is coming to an end now, but Horner says the true impact of the penalty may only become truly apparent next season, given much of their car development resource, especially in recent months, has gone towards the team's 2024 machine.

"Certainly, you've not seen the full impact yet because it obviously has compromised the amount of development that we've been able to do this year," he told reporters.

Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"

"Thankfully, we came out with a very strong car at the beginning of the year and we've been able to apply most of that development time from quite early in the season to next year's car, so that's been important."

Given that breach from the 2021 season, there was added interest as the FIA analysed every team's accounts from 2022 over whether the rules would be broken again. This time, though, all 10 teams were compliant with the rules.

And that, Horner went on to add, was after an even more rigorous process than his team had experienced the year before. He said: "I think the process of the cost cap is evolving. It's a very complex set of regulations that have evolved and the degree of scrutiny this year was phenomenal, in terms of the rigour that the FIA went to – it was a full colonoscopy that we experienced during the summer.

"I think that the FIA are learning as well from their side and the rules have evolved and, of course, every company is structured in a slightly different way as well, which adds to the complexity, whether you've got subsidiary accounts or what your reporting group is, for example, and so that has a bearing as well.

"So it's a very complex set of regulations and I think the FIA have actually done a pretty decent job of what we've seen over the last 12 months."

Daniel Moxon