The confirmation of what was already widely leaked – that Red Bull had overspent the $145million budget cap in the 2021 audit of Formula 1’s teams – puts the FIA in an awkward spot. It announced on Monday that a “minor overspend” had indeed been found – now this can be up to as much as $7.25million but is likely to be less. Red Bull expressed “surprise and disappointment” at the verdict and maintains its submission was below the limit. Even if it was ‘only’ a million bucks or so, that extra spend can clearly translate into lap time that it could carry into subsequent seasons. The onus is on the FIA to apply a penalty to fit this transgression. There’s also a huge need here for it to be transparent about what happens next; a repeat of the Ferrari 2019 engine settlement should be avoided at all costs. By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
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