Red Bull’s budget breach penalty too light, says Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur

The Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, has dismissed the punishment given to Red Bull last season for overspending the budget cap as too light to have imposed a real penalty on the team.

With Red Bull already dominant in the 2023 Formula One season and Ferrari having endured a poor opening three races, Vasseur insisted he believed his team could bring their car up to pace to catch the championship leaders.

Last year Red Bull were found to have breached the £114m cap by £1.86m. They were given a £6.05m fine and a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing. The reduction in testing was supposed to be a sporting impediment but Red Bull have emerged this season stronger than ever. They have three wins from three races and enjoy a 97-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

“It’s not a penalty,” he said. “Red Bull have done a good job but I am still convinced that the penalty was very light, that it should be severe given the rate of development we are doing this season and when you can spend what you are saving somewhere else.

“If you consider that you have an advantage at the beginning of the season because you spent more the year before, that’s a compensation. I don’t want to say they didn’t do a good job because they did a very good job on the car. I am not trying to find any excuses but if you ask me if the penalty is too light, I say ‘yes’.”

Vasseur was formerly the Alfa Romeo team principal and took over at Ferrari in January after Mattia Binotto stepped down and has faced a difficult opening to his tenure at the Scuderia. Charles Leclerc has suffered two DNFs from three races and took a grid penalty in Saudi Arabia from which he could come back to finish only seventh. His teammate, Carlos Sainz,