Red Bull were 'TIPPED OFF' over harsher cost cap penalty, claims F1 paddock favourite

Red Bull was tipped off about a possibly harsher cost cap penalty before the eventual punishment was settled, Eddie Jordan has revealed.

The reigning constructors' champions breached the cost cap during the 2021 season, when Max Verstappen won his first world title, and they were eventually given a penalty in October 2022.

There was a heavy financial penalty, but crucially for Adrian Newey and his engineering team, they lost 10 per cent of their wind tunnel time.

But Jordan has claimed that Newey himself couldn't care less about the money, having been tipped off beforehand that they would get a 20 per cent reduction rather than 10 per cent.

READ MORE: Horner admits giving Red Bull driver 'WORSE' race strategy

Red Bull got lucky

“What he’s doing at Red Bull is simply phenomenal,” Jordan said on the Formula For Success podcast.

“I’m out cycling with him and we’re preparing to do the Argus (cycling tour around Cape Town, South Africa) and this thing comes up about the penalty.

“I said, ‘Come on Adrian, level with me.' He was reluctant to accept it, but he had to because they’d been tipped off to prepare themselves for a 20 per cent reduction.

“He didn’t care about the penalty with the money because an engineer will bankrupt a team if they get half a chance.

“He was lucky and Red Bull were lucky because it was an evolution, it wasn’t a brand-new design.”

READ MORE: Why Adrian Newey is the BEST and WORST thing to happen to F1

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