F1 | Horner will out on the budget overrun figure

The traditional team principal press conference is scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 am Austin (6:30 pm Italian time). Nothing extraordinary, yet the wait for the meeting is no less than that which will precede qualifying and the race, as Mattia Binotto, Zak Brown and above all Christian Horner will be present.

Several British sources whisper that the Red Bull team principal intends to reveal the extent of the financial infringement that the FIA ​​is challenging the team regarding the 2021 season.

At the moment the International Federation has officially communicated that the infringement allegedly against Red Bull (i.e. the amount that the team would have spent in excess of the 145 million dollars granted by the regulation) is of the ‘Minor’ type, or less than 7.2 million. dollars, a very large window that does not allow to get a precise idea of ​​the subject of the dispute.

Horner could decide to communicate the figure to try to clarify the extent of the alleged advantage that the team would have enjoyed.

A scenario that would shift the balance in favor of Red Bull if the amount of the sum were to be less than the whispered 4 million dollars, a figure indicated in the paddock as the most probable.

A rumor is still of these hours according to which the item of expenditure that is the subject of the FIA ​​/ Red Bull dispute is the compensation received by Adrian Newey (over 10 million dollars per season) and his role in the team’s organization chart.

If (as reported by the rumors) the technical director serves through his company (with which Red Bull has entered into a collaboration agreement), there could be an attempt to pass this expense as an extra not subject to a budget cap, a sort consultancy that would free up a spot in the group of three highest salaries that each team is required to keep out of the cost limit.

The slot that would have freed Newey’s ‘outside’ status would thus have been available to another high-paid employee, and this scenario includes a potential “Minor” infraction, as the fourth highest salary paid by Red Bull is unlikely exceed $ 7.2 million.

On the other hand, the hypothesis that the excessive cost of catering and canteen may have been causing the Milton Keynes team’s budgets to be smothered.
“We all have that cost item in the balance sheet – commented an insider of an opposing team – but it makes very little sense to identify this expense as a reason for exceeding the budget. Let’s say it’s easy to pull this cost out of the hat, but in reality, if you spend less on other budget items, catering falls into the ranks. It’s a clever game of strategy ”.