The FIA has finally put the lid on the 2021 cost cap drama with sanctions for guilty parties. Red Bull, as we are all aware, were guilty of minor overspending, and received sanctions. Now, team principal Christian Horner would like an apology as well.

An apology from who? From the rival teams for the claims they’ve made in the weeks leading up to the sanctions, according to Horner. The Red Bull boss is not pleased with the conduct of the rival teams as well. Additionally, the boss feels the team does not owe anyone an apology.

When asked if Red Bull Racing will issue an apology, the boss fired back and said, “An apology from who? To be honest with you, we are due an apology from our rivals for the claims that have been made. We make no apology for the way we have performed and acted.”

“We take it on the chin and there are lessons to be learned. But there was no intent, nothing dishonest and there was certainly no cheating involved, which has been alleged in certain quarters,” added Horner referring to the claims by the rival teams.

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The fuming Red Bull boss is clearly not feeling apologetic for the team’s excess spending in the 2021 season. Rather, Christian Horner believes from the list of possible sanctions, the team received the harshest ones because of the lobbying from the rival teams.

Red Bull got the harshest hammer thanks to rival teams

Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren are among the teams that made public demands for harsh punishment. These public demands and the pressure to bring the hammer down on FIA might have played a role in the sanctions.

“We have been provided a significant sporting and financial penalty. There were other sporting penalties available. But this one was obviously lobbied hard for by our competitors because they felt it hit us the hardest,” claimed Christian Horner.

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There was certainly a lot of pressure on the FIA from various entities to make an example out of Red Bull. However, there will be some who will not be satisfied even if Horner feels they got the harshest penalty.