Before FIA delivered its verdict on Red Bull’s cost cap violations, rival teams took digs at the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. McLaren were no exception as they sent a strongly worded letter to the FIA. As the controversy was settling down after the ruling body’s verdict, the Woking-based team’s CEO has now cleared his stand on the letter.

FIA found Red Bull guilty of breaching the budget cap in 2021 by $2.2 million. While the actual breach was somewhere around $400,000, the failure to report tax receipts worth $1.4 million inflated the number. Resultantly, the ruling body sanctioned the team with a $7 million fine and reduced their wind tunnel time by 10%.

Zak Brown stands by his letter addressed to the FIA

In a letter to the FIA, Zak Brown used the word “cheating” for “the overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches”. While the letter did not name Red Bull, it was pretty clear who it referred to. As Christian Horner took offense to the allegations, Brown has now reacted to the letter and justified the use of the word.

Motorsport quoted him saying, “I stand by my letter”.

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“I think when you break the rules, whether it’s technical and financial, there are many different ways to characterize it.”

“I know it’s such a strong word, but I don’t see any difference between breaking the financial cap versus having too low of a ride height, or whatever the case may be.”

“If it’s something within the sporting, financial, or technical regulations, a breach of the rules, I guess you could call it a couple of different things. Some people in a more simplistic manner would call it that.”

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While some found FIA’s ruling a simple slap on the wrist, the Red Bull team boss thought they were too harsh. However, because the team did not want to prolong the matter with appeals, they “begrudgingly” accepted the terms.

Red Bull TP Christian Horner termed the FIA sanctions “draconian”

Christian Horner held a press conference soon after FIA released its verdict. As per reporter Jenna Fryer, Horner called the $7 million dollar fine an “enormous amount of money”.

Further in the presser, he said, “The more draconian punishment is the sporting penalty which is a 10% reduction in the use of our wind tunnel. Some people have said that is an insignificant penalty. Let me tell you now, it is an enormous amount & represents anything between 0.25-0.5 sec of lap time.”

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How much the sanctions will hurt the 2022 champions, only time will tell. The team will certainly give it everything to stay at the top in 2023.