The FIA has ruled that Red Bull did exceed the budget cap for the 2021 season. The sport’s governing body has concluded its assessments of all the Formula One teams’ budget submissions for last season and found, as was alleged at last week’s Singapore Grand Prix, that Red Bull had committed what it referred to as a “minor breach” of the stipulated $145m (£127m) ceiling.
Aston Martin and Williams were found to have committed a procedural breach of the cap, amounting to an error on forms, not going over the permitted spend.
A punishment for Red Bull racing has not been revealed. A minor breach is an overspend of less than 5%. The FIA did not reveal the exact figure relating to the breach although it is understood to amount to less than £2m.
Anything above 5% would have been considered a material breach (5% equates to a spend of $7.25m or £5.6m) and carried potentially more serious penalties, including the deduction of points or the exclusion of a team from the Formula One world championship, which would have potentially changed the outcome of last year’s title race, narrowly won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.