The Cost Cap battle finally came to an end. Red Bull was found guilty of a ‘minor breach’ of the standard budget fixed for all teams by the FIA. After months of investigation, today was the day when the FIA announced the punishment for the Austrian team.

As per the reports, Red Bull has been asked to pay a hefty fine of $7 million for exceeding last year’s $145 million cap by $2.2 million. Moreover, they will now also get reduced wind tunnel testing time.

However, the competitors, who are disappointed, believe that the verdict isn’t quite near to the deserved punishment. They believe the FIA could’ve been a lot harsher, keeping in mind the upper hand the team would have got for the current season as well.

In reference to this, Auto Motor und Sport wrote, “The excess is equivalent to five major upgrades or the salary of five additional engineers. That’s why some teams think the penalty is too low.” [Translated by Google].

Now, McLaren and their CEO Zak Brown, who previously demanded penalties for “cheating” Red Bull, are also not happy. While talking to The Race, Brown said, “If the FIA is to be most effective and its punishments serve as a lesson to others when rules are broken in this way, the sanctions have to be much stronger in the future.”

On the other hand, McLaren’s team principal, Andreas Seidl, is rather pleased that this whole drama is finally behind them.

He said, “You can argue a lot about the punishment. However, people will never agree on that. I’m glad the FIA ​​didn’t let the team get away with it. I hope it will deter other racing stables enough for the coming seasons.” 

Read More: Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen Brushes Off Red Bull’s Budget Cap Criticism With a Subtle Dig at Lewis Hamilton And Co.

Amid all this, Mercedes has taken a completely different road as they openly declared their plans to follow in Red Bull’s footsteps.

Mercedes shares plans of making a cost cap breach

Red Bull’s rival, Mercedes, have been disappointed in the handling of the situation with the budget cost cap by the FIA. Team Boss Toto Wolff has repeatedly mentioned the advantage the Austrian team must have had due to the breach. With constant upgrades, their wins were rather inevitable, according to the Silver Arrows man.

Previously in an interview, Toto Wolff took the opportunity to announce that if the penalties decided by the FIA were rather casual, he may consider making a breach himself in order to improve his cars. Considering the loss wouldn’t be damaging, exploiting the rules to get back on top would be an option he’d pursue.

Quoted by Corriere dello Sport, via Formula Passion, he said, “If Red Bull had overspent by two million, they could close the matter by paying the FIA five times, therefore 10 million. And in any case it would not be fair because it would sanction the right to cheat by paying a fine.”

“Mercedes have already talked about it and, if this were really the point of failure, Mercedes is ready to plan extra budget and related fine to recover performance and return to the top.”

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The FIA decision has left a lot of teams torn. With Mercedes making bold claims and Red Bull still holding its position on top, we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds.