Red Bull Drags On Budget Cap Drama Firing Major Accusation at F1 Grid

If you thought the budget cap saga is over, you might be wrong. Helmut Marko believes this year will be more dramatic than the last one. The Red Bull advisor believes half of the grid can break the cap this year.

Last month the FIA shocked the world by revealing the overspending of the budget cap by Red Bull. The Milton Keynes based team was handed over the penalty of $7 million and a reduction of 10% in their wind tunnel time. Red Bull were surprised to know that they overspent the set limit. However, to put an end to the matter, Austrian outfits have decided to accept the ABA (Accepted Breach Agreement) proposed by the FIA.

Amidst all the fuss of overspending the budget, Sky Sports F1’s director Billy McGinty also visited the team’s factory to smooth the tense relationship with the 2022 constructor champions as the broadcasters were accused of biased coverage following Ted Kravitz’s “robbed” comments.

With all this, Marko believes next year’s detailed information will account for more chaos over the budget cap saga than this year.
When asked if things will remain similar as of last year, he told Auto Motor und Sport “I think the current status is that six teams are over it.”

“Inflation is something that was not calculable to that extent, especially when it comes to the energy costs.” 

READ MORE: New Reports Put a Number on Red Bull’s Cost Cap Breach – “Could Cause an Earthquake”

After the controversial cost cap news was revealed, each team came out with their statements. And surely Mercedes were not the ones to sit quietly. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes reputational battering is enough to prevent teams from crossing the budget line.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff opines on the reputational damage attached to the cost cap breach

Earlier, Lewis Hamilton stated that Red Bull got off with a ‘slap on their wrist’ and now the Silver Arrows team boss has came up with his stance.

He believes reputation matters the most for any team, and no team will cross the budget cap as it brings in bad publicity. He said, “Beyond the sporting penalty and the financial penalty, which obviously resonates in the real world out there, there is a big reputational consequence.”

Wolff further said, “And that is why I believe no team is going to put a foot wrong over the line, because you don’t want to have your partners and your team dragged into this space.”

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Only time can tell what is still left to be discovered in the cost cap story. Was the fine given to Red Bull justified? Or did they get away lightly, as Hamilton believes? What are your thoughts?