Did Red Bull now stay within budget cap? Horner outlines expectation

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horner on 2023 budget cap and penalties
21 July 2023 at 12:22
Last update 21 July 2023 at 13:44
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  • Toby McLuskie

Christian Horner is confident that Red Bull Racing did not exceed its budget ceiling again last year. The Austrian racing stable's team boss cites that the updates in 2022 were relatively modest. Furthermore, the 49-year-old Briton addresses the issue of whether his formation has been sufficiently punished for the offence committed in 2021.

"We would expect to be. We had a very good car last year and did relatively little development compared to some of our competitors. And we had very little crash damage as well. I think Max damaged one front wing in Brazil, and Checo had one incident from memory in Montreal. We weren't burning parts like our competitors were. The upgrades we were bringing were far more modest," Horner interjected to Sky Sports.

It will soon become clear whether all teams, including Red Bull, have stayed within the budget ceiling in 2022. As said, Horner is confident of a good outcome. "We are working through a process with the FIA, and there's inevitably always going to be speculation. but you have to put the faith in the FIA in the process we are currently engaged in."

Complaining competition

Red Bull, as is well known, was fined seven million dollars and given 10 per cent less time in the wind tunnel. However, Red Bull is still very dominant and this handicap does not really seem to bother them. Consequently, there are plenty of noises that the Milton Keynes-based racing stable has not been punished hard enough and that they are still benefiting from having developed more in 2021 than was within the budget ceiling.

Are the teams complaining bad losers? "The hit we've taken with the lack of wind tunnel time we have compared to our competitors is a massive compromise. If wind tunnels don't count, why don't we just get rid of them? It's always easy to throw shade when you're not performing. It's something in F1 that will always continue to happen" Horner said.

Horner praises Red Bull

The fact that Red Bull has its act together fantastically and is still unbeaten this season is really not because of that budget cap overrun, according to Horner. It's just a matter of doing a better job. "I am just incredibly proud of the job that our team is doing with the constraints we have. To be performing at this level, to have achieved 11 straight wins is an outstanding achievement."