Red Bull does not understand why the FIA is accusing them of exceeding their budget
Red Bull has responded to the FIA's announcements on Monday, stating that the Austrian team was exceeding its budget for the 2021 Formula 1 season. The team says they do not understand how this is possible according to their financial statements and analysis.
Interviewed last week at the Japanese Grand Prix, Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, stated that they were on track and had respected the 2021 budget limit. Red Bull persists in communicating that they are surprised by the information transmitted by the FIA.
We note the information provided by the FIA regarding a “slight budget overspend” according to the financial regulations, with surprise and disappointment.
The FIA revealed yesterday that 9 teams respected the capped budget in 2021, except Red Bull, which exceeded it by less than 5% of the $146.2 million limit. However, Red Bull denies submitting a budget above the limit.
Our submitted 2021 financial report was lower than the budget ceiling, so we need to carefully analyze the information found by the FIA, as we still believe we are well below the 2021 budget limit.
Ferrari, Mercedes and the other teams have deemed that a surpassing, even by a few million, allows for the implementation of certain innovations and more high-performance parts that can tip the scale in their favor. Therefore, they have called for strong sanctions in case any team exceeds the limits. Red Bull will analyze the information found by the FIA and will adhere to the measures and sanctions imposed, depending on the results found.
Despite the situation and the claims of other teams, the verification process with the FIA and our teams will proceed, and we will explore all available options to comply with the regulations, states the Red Bull statement.
As a reminder, in the case of minor exceedance (less than 5%), the following sanctions can still be applied: the following sanctions.
