Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem were involved in an awkward exchange at the prize giving gala on Friday.
The ceremony was held in Bologna, with Red Bull in attendance to collect their trophies for winning the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship in 2022.
However, Red Bull was also at the centre of controversy earlier this year when the FIA deemed that it had breached the 2021 budget cap set at $145 million.
Red Bull has been ordered to pay a $7m fine and will have reduced aerodynamic testing in 2023 as its punishment.
When Horner took the stage to collect the Constructors’ Championship trophy, he had a bizarre altercation with the FIA president.
“This cup is nothing to do with the cost cap,” Ben Sulayem joked. “This is from the FIA so we’re not going to deduct it from your cost cap, okay?”
Horner responded: “That’s very generous, thank you.”
The situation was then even made more awkward when Horner made reference to the “confusion” of winning the Drivers’ title in Japan.
Due to the shortened race, it was believed that half points would be awarded and that Verstappen would have to wait until the next weekend to seal the title.
But due to regulations that were changed in light of the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, full points were handed out.
Responding to Horner’s remark, Ben Sulayem appeared to believe that the Briton stated it was a “controversial” situation at the Suzuka Circuit and fired back.
“One thing you said about Japan, you said it was controversial. No,” Ben Sulayem said.
“The FIA was blamed for the points but it was not the FIA which made the rules, it was the teams who made the rules and we were implementing it.”
Horner and Ben Sulayem then shook hands and went their separate ways.
