‘There could be six teams in breach of the cap,’ Christian Horner reraises question of teams potentially breaching the budget cap in 2022
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Christian Horner
Red Bull were found guilty of breaching the budget cap in 2021, something they were penalized $7 million for, and also had their aerodynamic development time reduced by 10 percent. It’s important to remember that this penalty is for a minor breach, amounting to only around 0.37%, if the team had filed their taxes correctly.
Earlier this year, there were a lot of ‘concern’ from the top teams, – Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, about the budget gap, as they felt it was too low. Toto Wolff in particular cited inflation, and increased freight and energy costs. Now, after the issue of last year’s budget cap has subsided, the issue with the one in 2022 has arisen again.
Christian Horner, who had said that the budget cap ‘gave the team headaches’ (in 2022), thinks six teams could breach the budget cap this year. As per GPFans, he said: “The danger for 2022 is there could be six teams in breach of the cap. Energy prices have been exponential. Thankfully we’ve been protected.”
He added: “There is that chance that several teams, many of which have stated during Formula 1 Commission meetings, will break the cap this year.” After the backlash against them in public, if more teams breach the cap this year, then it might be taken as some form of vindication for Red Bull.
Christian Horner believes FIA set a precedent with Red Bull’s penalty
A breach over five percent of the budget cap will be considered ‘major’, which means harsher penalties. The question is, if six teams indeed to breach the cap this year, even if they are all minor breaches, what will the penalties be like? As harsh as the ones imposed on Red Bull, or lighter considering that multiple teams committed the breach.
Christian Horner further commented on this: “I do not believe we will break the cap in 2022. But these penalties have set a precedent for the future. So if you get 10 percent [aerodynamic development time reduction] for a 0.37 percent breach, what is a five percent breach going to be worth?”
Horner thinks the FIA have set a precedent with Red Bull’s penalty, for a breach that only amounted to 0.37%, so he believes that the FIA will take any breach severely.
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Aniket Tripathi
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