Paying seven million dollars, ten percent less time in the wind tunnel: how hard does Red Bull really hit the penalty for exceeding the budget limit? A question that is aptly debated in Formula 1. Helmut Marko finds the penalty imposed by the world association FIA “draconian”, but is optimistic that the racing team will compensate for the consequences. In the RTL/ntv interview, the Austrian explains how Red Bull broke the financial rules and what the penalty means for the team. The Austrian cannot resist a dig at Mercedes.
“Seven million dollars is a lot of money. Luckily we are in such a position from the sponsor’s income that we can do it from this pot,” Marko quickly ticked off the fine. More serious is the reduction in the test time in the wind tunnel, “which, if you’re first in the constructors’ championship, is already reduced compared to second, third and fourth-place finishers,” said the 79-year-old.
At Red Bull, “every shot has to hit the mark”
For the development of the new car, that means “in practice, every wind tunnel test has to be successful, we can’t afford flops, every shot has to hit the mark. Because of the strength and depth of our aerodynamics staff, I believe that we can do that.” Design guru Adrian Newey is also “an additional bonus for Red Bull, which fortunately cannot be removed with such a penalty,” said Marko.
In 2021, Red Bull exceeded the budget limit of $148.6 million by around $2.15 million. Almost all Formula 1 teams, led by Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, feel that the penalty for Red Bull is too lax.
In an interview with RTL/ntv, Haas team boss Günther Steiner complained that the reduction in the aerodynamics test time didn’t really affect Red Bull either. According to the South Tyrolean, the racing team can invest the money saved in the wind tunnel in other areas.
“I have to agree with Steiner,” said Marko with a smile: “Of course we will specialize in other things, for example the weight, we started this year with a relatively large amount of overweight. So we will see that we bring a car to the weight limit, you can work on the mechanical components. So what you can’t achieve in the wind tunnel, you shift to other areas.” Overall, Red Bull have a very good package. “We hope that with the breadth of the technical team we will be able to put out a winning car again.”
Complex financial rules
The budget limit in Formula 1 has been in effect since the previous season. Red Bull is the first team that broke the cost cap and was penalized for it.
Marko pointed out how complex the 52-page financial regulations of Formula 1 are. There are “an immense number of exceptions” about what falls below the budget limit and what doesn’t. “There are 17 to 20 points where you have several options in the interpretation from the current perspective.” Red Bull ultimately exceeded the limit due to “interpretation errors”, said Marko. “We thought we were safe at 3.4 million, but we weren’t.”
That’s why Red Bull exceeded the cost limit
Marko gave examples of exceeding the cost limit. “We had a staff member who had open heart surgery. We didn’t budget for the cost – around £1million – because she wasn’t working.” But the interpretation is as follows: “If she had died, the costs would not have had to be taken into account, but since she was on sick leave, although she was not working, that must be taken into account.”
Likewise, the FIA auditors “did not recognize” the transfer of a high-ranking aerodynamics employee poached by the competition to another department. There were also different opinions on the subject of catering.
Tip against Mercedes
In its report, the FIA confirmed “that we never had any intention of fraud or swindling in the background,” emphasized Marko. Had Red Bull claimed a tax break, “we would have been $460,000 over it.”
In view of this sum, Red Bull’s violation can be seen as a trivial offense, says Marko. “But because the cost cap was applied for the first time, this draconian penalty was imposed here, of course also under pressure from the other teams. Information came out in advance that we didn’t have, that actually only one team had. Of course there is also a lot of politics involved,” Marko grumbled in the direction of Mercedes.
Advertisement: Red Bull hires accountants
So Red Bull the victim of a Mercedes campaign? “It’s strange: A Mercedes employee switched to the FIA, processed these documents for the cost cap at Mercedes and was then responsible for checking at the FIA,” criticized Marko: “In our opinion, there is definitely a compliance violation or at least an indication of compliance violations. The whole thing doesn’t make a good impression.”
After all: Marko expects that the financial rules will be “sharpened” by the FIA. “I am convinced that this will be much clearer in the years to come.”
Red Bull is gearing up anyway. “We hire more accountants to have the necessary security here.”
Martin Armbruster