Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have ‘strong belief’ Red Bull are ‘in line’ with F1 budget cap
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Updated 21/10/2022 at 18:38 GMT+1
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have defended their team, reiterating that they feel their budget cap submission was below the limit. The FIA deemed Red Bull were in minor breach of the budget cap last year. However, several drivers have called for a big penalty to be handed out to Red Bull, including Valtteri Bottas who thinks “rules are rules.
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Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both feel Red Bull were in line with Formula 1’s budget cap last year.
Red Bull were found to be in minor breach of the budget cap regulations by the FIA, meaning they spent up to $7.25 million more than what was allowed in 2021.
However, it’s understood that the actual figure is around the $2million mark and that the FIA have offered Red Bull an “accepted breach agreement”.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit released a statement which said there submission was “below the cost cap limit".
“It’s something between the team and the FIA anyway, right?” Verstappen said ahead of the United States Grand Prix. “From our side, we have a strong belief that we were in it.
“So that’s why we are discussing about it, to show what we think is right. But, at the end of the day, it’s not up to me. I’m just focused on the performance on-track.”
Team principal Christian Horner was set to address the latest situation on Friday morning in Austin to the media, but this was postponed as the FIA and Red Bull continue talks.
It’s expected that Red Bull will receive a light punishment such as a financial penalty and there will be no deduction of points for the 2021 and/or 2022 seasons.
Sergio Perez says “the facts will come out” once the FIA have finalised their investigation.
“We believe that we are in line and we believe that everything will come up in the right situation,” Perez told the press.
“Obviously, I will leave it down to my team to solve that together with the FIA, but at the end of the day, there's always teams that want to take performance out of you, especially when you are winning.
“It's part of the sport and this has been forever and I just think that it's just a normal situation and everything.
“At the end of the day facts will come out and people will see and understand the situation.”
Drivers call for Red Bull to be given severe punishment
Lewis Hamilton has urged for Red Bull to not be given a “slap on the wrist” whilst McLaren CEO Zak Brown wrote a letter to the FIA which stated a breach of the budget cap “constitutes cheating”.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz says he wants clarity and fairness from the sport’s governing body.
“I just hope that if there's a penalty, the penalty is relatively important to take the appetite away from overspending two or three million to waste on next year's car, because you think next year's car is worth it more than the other year, and then you take a penalty for ignoring it,” said Sainz.
“I just think it needs to be fair play for everyone. If there's a cost cap, it's there to be followed and I just hope that the FIA takes the right decisions to make sure that everyone follows it.”
Valtteri Bottas was part of the Mercedes team last year that won the constructors’ championship, but narrowly lost the drivers’ title when Lewis Hamilton was overtaken by Max Verstappen on the last lap of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in an already-controversial season.
Bottas agreed with Sainz’s comments but thinks there should be a big penalty for a team that breaks the budget cap rules.
“I feel like rules are the rules,” added Bottas. “If you don't follow them, there should be a penalty that really hurts because like Carlos said, you don't want anyone to have the appetite to maximise something for one year and risking with a budget cap.
“I personally hope that it's going to be a strict and harsh penalty because that shouldn't happen: rules are the rules.
“There's many rules in F1 and there should be no difference in terms of the penalty. So let's hope so, that it's a good penalty that really, really hurts them because, like I said, I was sitting in the fight last year for the constructors.
“Yes, we got that but we missed the drivers title by a few points and a few millions, it can make a big, big difference.”
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