The FIA has revealed the financial and sporting penalties Red Bull has received for exceeding Formula 1’s cost cap from last year.
It was announced after the Japanese Grand Prix that both Red Bull and Aston Martin were in breach of F1’s financial regulations for 2021, with the former found to have committed a minor breach.
Red Bull was deemed to be less than 5% over the $145m limit, even though the team vigorously denied it had broken F1’s rules.
This led to Red Bull entering talks with the FIA over an Accepted Breach Agreement in a bid to reach a settlement, and on Friday the extent of Red Bull’s agreement was revealed.
The team admits that it did not comply with the financial regulations, resulting in the FIA handing them a $7m fine and a 10% reduction of aerodynamic testing.
It was also found from the FIA’s findings that while Red Bull’s 2021 submission was below the budget cap, it “inaccurately excluded and/or adjusted costs amounting to a total of £5,607,000.”
This meant that Red Bull’s total submission exceeded the cap by $1,864,000, which equates to 1.6%.
During its talks with the FIA, Red Bull explained that the additional £5.6m was a result of excluded costs that cover up to 13 areas, among of which includes social security contributions for staff, apprenticeship levies, cost of use of the power units, and a clerical error in the calculation of costs re-charged to Red Bull by Red Bull Powertrains.
A statement issued by the FIA on the matter read: “Red Bull Racing has therefore accepted that it has breached: (i) Article 8.2(e) of the Financial Regulations due to its failure to file accurate Full Year Reporting Documentation in respect of the 2021 Full Year Reporting Period, and (ii) Article 8.10(b) of the Financial Regulations due to its failure to keep its Relevant Costs under the 2021 Cost Cap.
“The FIA acknowledges that had RBR applied the correct treatment within its Full Year Reporting Documentation of RBR’s Notional Tax Credit within its 2021 submission of a value of £1,431,348, it would have been considered by the Cost Cap Administration to be in compliance with Article 4.1(b) of the Regulations and therefore RBR’s Relevant Costs for the 2021 Reporting Period would have in fact exceeded the 2021 Cost Cap by £432,652 (0.37%).”
