Red Bull's Helmut Marko fears MULTIPLE teams have breached F1 budget cap

Helmut Marko

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Marko fears MULTIPLE teams have breached F1 budget cap

Red Bull advisor warns of ambiguity in FIA rules over teams' special projects

Lauren Sneath

Friday 28 July 2023 12:42

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Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has suggested that there are three F1 teams which may have breached the 2022 cost cap.

The regulation by the FIA, introduced from the 2021 season onwards, restricts F1 teams to a budget of roughly $140 million.

The FIA states on its website that the cap has been created “to ensure the long-term viability of the Championship and encourage convergence in performance between Competitors, thus creating more exciting racing”.

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Red Bull were found to have breached the cap after the 2021 season by 1.6 per cent, and according to a public summary of their punishment by the FIA were ordered to pay a penalty of $7 million as well as facing restricted aerodynamic testing time.

Now, Marko has suggested that three F1 teams have exceeded the limit set out by the cap. He did not name the teams in question.

He told Motorsport Total: “There should be three teams that may be over it.”

Special projects

Marko explained that in particular, the FIA is interested in special projects and companies created by F1 teams.

He said that at Red Bull, discussions are "specifically about the RB17” – a car designed by Adrian Newey, only 50 of which will be made and which will sell for £5 million when produced in 2025.

There is often a blurred line between staff who contribute to F1 operations for a team and those who work in other aspects of the business – for example, Red Bull engineers may have lent expertise to the RB19 F1 car as well as Newey’s special project.

Marko said: "There have been people who work partly there, partly there. How do you separate that? This is also a procedure.

“The whole cost cap is still too much interpretation and too little facts. That's why there are discussions, and that needs to be sharpened."