
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 22, 2022 Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner during practice REUTERS/Brian Snyder

via Reuters
Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 22, 2022 Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner during practice REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Red Bull and its entire cost cap saga have become a contentious topic for the past couple of weeks. However, amid all of this, an unlikely war of words has been ignited between a Milton-Keynes-based outfit and a team you wouldn’t think of as their direct rival.
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McLaren have been very outspoken about the whole Red Bull situation. Christian Horner held his press conference in the aftermath of the FIA’s findings and the penalty. But Andreas Seidl was quick to call out the Red Bull boss and his entire team.
Seidl began by taking a swipe at Horner, “I didn’t listen to [the press conference] because I can imagine it was another fairytale hour, probably.”
He then went on to take a massive jab at the entire team. He told Sky Sports F1, “I’ve got no interest in that. It’s good to see the FIA did a good job in terms of doing the audit. Nine teams got it right and it was confirmed that one team was clearly in breach so that’s a positive outcome.”
Many people in the paddock are not pleased with the punishment doled out by the FIA to Red Bull. But according to the FIA, there is a good reason why the Bulls were not severely punished.
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Cooperative Red Bull key in making FIA enter into a settlement offer
The Milton-Keynes-based outfit breached the cost cap for 2021. That’s a fact. However, it isn’t as black and white as that. The team did exceed the budget cap set by the FIA. The FIA pointed out certain mitigating factors that led to a less strict punishment for the Bulls.

via Getty
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 03: Adrian Newey, the Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner and Geri Halliwell looks on in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 03, 2022 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The FIA said, “Because Red Bull’s procedural violation is minimal, they only committed a minor violation of less than 5%, Red Bull was willing to admit it and because the team was willing to cooperate with the Cost Cap Administration, we made them a settlement offer.”
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Watch This Story: Understanding the Drama Behind the Ferrari Mercedes Budget Cost Cap Battle Against Red Bull
Andreas Seidl clearly doesn’t agree that the punishment is proportionate to the breach committed by the Austrian team. However, is a 7 million fine plus a 10% aero testing time deduction a fair punishment for the Bulls?
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