Red Bull breach Formula One's budget cap

Formula One’s (F1) governing body, the FIA, have found the current world champions Red Bull, and Aston Martin, guilty of breaching the sport’s budget cap.

Photo: worldnewsera.org.

By Sam Feierabend.

While the extent of the breach has not been revealed, the FIA have disclosed that it was ‘minor’, meaning that the $145m (£114m) budget was exceeded by less than 5%, or $7.25m in the 2021 season. The punishment for this has not yet been announced.

The importance of this is the potential punishment that could be handed out. Aside from financial penalties, Red Bull could be punished with a constructor and/or drivers’ points deduction for the season in question. Max Verstappen won the 2021 Driver’s Championship in controversial fashion, following a last lap shootout with title rival Lewis Hamilton, winning by one point. Any points deduction would see Verstappen stripped of his title, and Hamilton being crowned World Champion for an unprecedented eighth time.

While Red Bull can appeal any punishment, the financial breach shows how much finance in the sport is polarised. The 5% breach is a drop in the ocean for financial powerhouses such as Mercedes and Red Bull, who stretch and exceed all the $145m available to them in a season. By comparison, a smaller team like Alfa Romeo only spend a fraction of this with their development budget being just £2m. Teams who can afford to stretch the budget cap evidently are more advantage when it comes to technology, and personnel available to them.

The budget cap in Formula One was introduced before the 2021 season to make competition fairer and closer. Teams that haven’t managed to stick to it even in its first year is an ominous sign. The FIA punishment will determine how seriously teams take this in the future.