“Red Bull illegal for two million which is a significant figure, this is a fact from which there is no escape”. Mattia Binottoteam principal of Ferrari, guest of Sky Sport F1 on Saturday at the end of the qualifying of the Mexican Grand Prix, underlined in line with what was declared by Toto Wolff that the FIA recognized an illegality on the part of the Milton Keynes team, which was the only one not to respect the budget cap in the first season in which the F1 spending cap came into effect.
The penalty received by Red Bull – 10% less hours in the wind tunnel and a 7 million dollar fine to be paid to the FIA within 30 days – obviously did not satisfy the opponents of the team led by Christian Horner, but Toto Wolff after vitriolic statements made in Singapore in Mexico has changed register declaring that he appreciated the work of the FIA and the fact that a sanction was reached anyway. What Red Bull’s competitors were hoping for was a reduction in the budget available in 2023, but this will not be the case and, indeed, the money not spent from the reduction of the hours allocated to the wind tunnel could be allocated to other areas such as the weight of the car and suspension, Binotto noted.
In 2022 Red Bull overturned a championship started not under a lucky star with updates that allowed the RB18 above all to lose weight, with continuous and extensive work on the bottom of the car, on the bellies and on the bonnet to improve excellent aerodynamic efficiency. since Bahrain. Christian Horner questioned about whether he fears an encore of the 2021 overrun in 2022 he replied that “Looking around, I have no particular apprehensions (in reference to what the opponents did in terms of expenses and developments, ed) and then we were the team with the least accidents of all “.
Mattia Binotto has repeatedly invited the FIA to be diligent and attentive in the checks on the spending ceiling in unsuspected times, well before Singapore broke the case relating to 2021. Even Mercedes was no less than Red Bull in terms of amount of updates tested on the W13. In a press conference at the end of the Mexican Grand Prix, Binotto, when asked about Mercedes expenses potentially above the budget cap, answered this way: “I can’t answer and I don’t want to have doubts. We leave these checks to the FIA. Rather we hope it will not be necessary to wait until October 2023 to know the truth about 2022. For us I can guarantee that we are preparing for the 2023 season by doing things correctly ”.
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