Red Bull respond to being found guilty of ‘minor’ breach of F1’s financial rules

Red Bull say that are ‘surprised and disappointed’ after the FIA found them guilty of a ‘minor’ breach of the Formula 1 budget cap for 2021.

On Monday, the sport’s governing body concluded their assessment of team’s finances for last season, announcing that only Red Bull had exceeded the $145million cap.

Aston Martin and Williams were also found guilty of a procedural breach.

A ‘minor’ overspend is classified as anything less-than 5% of the budget cap, in this case $7.25m, and although the FIA didn’t reveal how much Red Bull were over, it is said that the figure is around $2m.

How Red Bull will be penalised for the breach has yet to be decided, with the team able to appeal the FIA’s findings, but punishments range from points deductions to bans on testing.

It was first rumoured a few weeks ago, just prior to the Singapore Grand Prix, that Red Bull had broken the budget cap during their successful 2021 campaign where Max Verstappen pipped Sir Lewis Hamilton to the driver’s title.

Team principal Christian Horner repeatedly refuted the reports and even threatened legal action against rival team bosses, like Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, who had claimed that Red Bull had cheated.

Public reprimand

Deduction of Drivers and Constructors points

Suspension from one or more stages of a grand prix weekend

Limitations on aerodynamic or other testing

Reduction of the cost cap for next season

And now, despite being found to have breached the rules, the team continue to plead the innocence, putting out a statement on social media.

‘We note the findings by the FIA of “minor overspend breaches of the financial regulations” with surprise and disappointment,’ it said.

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‘Our 2021 submission was