Red Bull's Budget Cap Penalty "clearly Disproportionate To Breach"

The FIA did not go far enough to punish Red Bull for going over the budget ceiling, believes McLaren team principal Andreas Seid.

The sport’s governing body confirmed Red Bull’s fines on Friday for breaching financial regulations, including more than £1.8 million in spending. Red Bull has been fined $7m (£6m) and has had its 2023 climate testing allocation reduced by 10%.

Seid praised the thoroughness of the FIA’s work in analyzing the costs of all 10 Formula 1 teams. However, he believes Red Bull’s punishment is too light.

“Finally, on the positive side, I think it’s good to see the FIA doing a good job in carrying out the audit, where nine teams got it right and one team was found to be in clear breach.” He said to the sky. “So that’s a positive result.

“But on the negative side, it’s clear, in my view, that the penalty doesn’t fit the offense. I hope we’ll have tougher penalties going forward.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner repeatedly described the team’s punishment as “draconian” in a 50-minute press conference with the media, including RaceFans, after the FIA announced its decision. He detailed the reasons for Red Bull’s overspending, but Siedl said he was not interested in the explanation.

“No, I haven’t heard it because I can imagine it’s probably another fairy tale,” he said. “No, I have no interest in that.”

“They have no reason to be complacent this year,” he added, following the first experience of their spending submissions. “If there is another violation this year, as I said before, then I hope that there will be appropriate penalties.”

However, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes the FIA’s punishment for Red Bull was justified. “From what I can tell from reading all the releases and listening to Christian,” he told Sky.

“But it’s over. Half a kilogram underweight we were eliminated from a separate race on the track.

“But I believe the punishment is good, due process is followed. I’m happy that both the FIA and Red Bull have come to their conclusions and we’re happy that they’re moving forward.

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