Update III | 'Horner at Ben Sulayem's office for meeting with FIA'
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- GPblog.com
Earlier this week, De Telegraaf reported that Red Bull Racing is not very happy with the FIA's handling of the matter regarding the budget cap overshoot. The Austrian racing stable feels thrown in front of the bus and communication with the governing body is very difficult. A few days later, it is no different, as there has still been no conversation between the two parties.
The Grand Prix weekend officially does not start until Friday, but everyone is always on the track by Thursday. The drivers are expected at the press conference or in the square, for example, and the engineers are busy preparing the sessions and preparing the cars. Christian Horner was keen to sit down with Mohammed Ben Sulayem regarding the budget cap saga, but the FIA president has not yet had or made time to do so.
No Red Bull press event after all
It goes against Red Bull's grain. Sky Sports hinted on Thursday that the team of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez planned to hold a press conference before the first free practice session. At that, Horner was to give more details about the offence, its possible consequences and Red Bull's position on the matter. However, this press conference has been cancelled as the conversation with Ben Sulayem has not yet taken place.
Horner and Ben Sulayem are now scheduled to meet today (Friday, ed.). However, De Telegraaf journalist Erik van Haren writes that communication is still very difficult.
Will the decision fall soon?
Communicatie tussen Mohammed Ben Sulayem en Christian Horner verloopt zeer stroef, zo zijn de geluiden.
— Erik van Haren (@ErikvHaren) October 21, 2022
FIA-president heeft Horner nog niet in staat gesteld om hem te spreken. Planning is dat de twee elkaar vandaag ontmoeten. Budget cap-saga begint een flinke chaos te worden.
Update | Conversation between FIA and Red Bull to take place
Simon Lazenby, a journalist at Sky Sports, confirms on his Twitter channel that a meeting between the FIA and Red Bull Racing is due to take place on Friday morning (local time). When we will hear something about the outcome is still unknown. Lazenby writes that the press conference that was scheduled has been postponed (as we already knew), but that suggests we will still be presented with a press event later this weekend.
Red Bull cost cap press conference postponed. Planned meeting between FIA and RB last night now happening this am.
— Simon Lazenby (@simon_lazenbyF1) October 21, 2022
Update II | Meeting Horner and FIA postponed again
We already knew that the communication between Horner and Sulayem is proving to be very difficult, but there is still no end to the story. Dutch journalist Van Haren reveals on Twitter that the meeting between the two men has been postponed again. Horner reported to the FOM on Friday morning in Austin, but the budget cap was not discussed. Instead, the meeting was about the new Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt.
Update III | Horner in Ben Sulayem's office
The meeting between Horner and the Ben Sulayem seems to have come off after all. The Red Bull team boss was spotted in the FIA president's office after FP1 in Austin, where they presumably discussed the budget cap issue before anything is brought out about it. The conversation continued in the Red Bull garage, where Shaila-Ann Rao was also said to have joined the conversation. After just under half an hour in total, the meeting was over.