The FIA has confirmed that the Red Bull Formula 1 team breached the 2021 budget cap, which was set at $145 million.
Aston Martin also overspent the budget quota, however their fault is deemed to be “procedural”.
Red Bull, meanwhile falls into the category of a procedural and minor overspend breach.
The FIA is currently reviewing what punishment will meet Aston Martin and Red Bull, with the latter winning last year’s Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen.
“The review of the Reporting Documentation submitted has been an intensive and thorough process, and all Competitors gave their full support in providing the required information to assess their financial situation during this first year of the Financial Regulations,” read an FIA statement.
“The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process.
“The FIA would also note that with respect to this first year of the application of the Financial Regulations the intervention of the FIA Cost Cap Administration has been limited to reviewing the submissions made by the Competitors and that no full formal investigations were launched.
“The FIA Cost Cap Administration is currently determining the appropriate course of action to be taken under the Financial Regulations with respect to Aston Martin and Red Bull and further information will be communicated in compliance with the Regulations.”
Red Bull’s punishment is not expected to be severe, as it has only been found guilty of a minor breach, which is likely to result in financial and/or minor sporting penalties.
But Ferrari has called for any breach to result in a “significant” penalty, as it believes that even a minor overspend can deliver a team a notable advantage.
The FIA was originally set to deliver their findings last Wednesday, but delayed the announcement to the Monday after the Japanese Grand Prix, where Red Bull’s Verstappen sealed his second F1 title.
2021 was the first year that F1 operated under a budget cap, and the figure has been reduced to $140m for 2022.
Red Bull responded to accusations in Singapore earlier this month that it had breached the cap, asserting that it had operated legally.
However, that has proven to not be the case, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff stating that any breach would be a “heavyweight” matter for the sport.
Red bull break cost cap, who’d have guessed?
Only a minor breach though so I guess they are only minor cheats.
It was only $5m, but it was spent in the last race as a gift to Masi.
Best comment
Rules are Rules, where does it say that you can overspend by $5 million and get away with it?
I find it amazing that Red Bull were “surprised “ by the findings of the FIA, surely with the organisation and so called “professional team” they have someone should have picked it up.
If I overspent by $5 million from my bank account, I’m sure my bank would not see it as a minor breach!
If you break the rules then you should be prepared to face the penalty.
It’s a bit rich for Ferrari to insist on severe sanctions against Red Bull when they were given a private and confidential punishment for power unit irregularities a couple of seasons ago.
Of more concern is that it has taken one full year for the FIA cost monitoring to reach a conclusion. Continuous reporting by teams should surely allow for a far quicker conclusion than this. For Verstapen to win the 2022 championship on Sunday to only get confirmation that he’ll keep his 2021 championship one day later isn’t a good look for the FIA administration of F1