Formula 1: Red Bull fined US$7m for overspending F1 cost cap
- Team principal Christian Horner strongly hinted Red Bull was targeted because of its success and blasted the leak that spurred the investigating
- The FIA found 13 discrepancies in an audit of over 75,000 line items on Red Bull’s 2021 financial report, team principal Christian Horner said.
Fancy catering and energy drinks. Social security contributions and medical treatments for an employee that survived their illness.
Those are some of the expenditures Red Bull claimed Friday it improperly misrepresented when submitting its 2021 financial report. It led to a breach of Formula One’s spending cap, set at US$145 million for its debut season, and penalties handed down by the series governing body.
The FIA on Friday ordered the F1 championship team to pay a US$7 million fine and forfeit wind tunnel time as punishment for overspending by US$1.8 million during Max Verstappen’s first championship season. The FIA found 13 discrepancies in an audit of over 75,000 line items on Red Bull’s 2021 financial report, team principal Christian Horner said.
But he was adamant the areas of overspend had zero benefit on team performance. He called the penalties “draconian,” and said the cost cap structure inherited by first-year FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem was “immature.”
Horner also strongly intimated Red Bull was targeted because of its on-track success and blasted the initial leak that the FIA was investigating a potential spending breach.
