As the FIA released its sanctions on Red Bull’s 2021 cost cap breach, Red Bull accepted the terms. That was despite the fact that Christian Horner believed the sanctions were too harsh. Veteran F1 journalist reveals the possible reason for that was the Milton-Keynes-based outfit being afraid of having their operational secrets going out in public.

The FIA adjudged Red Bull guilty of breaching the budget cap by $2.2 million dollars for the 2021 season. While the actual breach was for around $400,000, the failure to correctly report tax receipts worth $1.4 million inflated the breach. Resultantly, they sanctioned the offending team with a $7 million fine and a 10% reduction of wind tunnel time.

Did Red Bull accept FIA’s penalties to keep their secrets unexposed?

As the ruling body released its verdict on the breach, Christian Horner called a press conference. There, the Red Bull boss called the punishment “draconian” and explained how it would affect their 2022 car’s development. All of this can surely make one think: then why did he accept FIA’s terms?

Former Formula One team and sponsorship manager, Peter Windsor, on his official YouTube channel said, “I was talking to another team principal before. Once it was clear Red Bull had done something, he said ‘I’ll tell you what will happen here- they will do the quickest possible settlement with the FIA because the biggest penalty for them would be the information actually got out’.”

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“How they were slicing their cake because they don’t want anyone to know that.”

“And that is the biggest secret in Formula 1. How the teams operate in terms of R&D versus everything else,” Windsor concluded.

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Windsor’s view on the situation vastly differs from what Christian Horner had revealed in the presser ahead of the Mexican GP.

What Christian Horner had told about “begrudgingly” settling with FIA

In the press conference, Horner explained his team’s stance on FIA’s ruling. He told the 10% reduction in wind tunnel time could cost his team 0.25 to 0.50 seconds in lap times in 2023. However, they accepted the terms because they did not want to prolong the controversy.

Horner said, “Had we dragged it out through the administration process, to got to an appeal, that could have taken months, and beyond that at the International Court of Appeal, that could have taken further months. So we could have been looking at a 12-month period to have this situation closed.”

“With the amount of speculation and commenting and sniping that has been going on in the paddock, we thought it was in everyone’s interest to say that we close the book here and today,” he added. “We accept the penalties, begrudgingly, but we accept them.”

Watch This Story: Christian Horner Unhappy with 2022 Budget Cap, Calls for Urgent Attention

Do you think the reduction in wind tunnel time will prove costly for Red Bull in defending their titles? Or does the momentum put them in a league of their own?