Red Bull "negative publicity" a "long-term" deterrent for F1 rivals

Sam Hall
Friday 4 November 2022 15:16

Former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen is confident the severity of Red Bull's budget cap penalty will have a 'long-term benefit for F1'.

Red Bull was fined $7million and handed a 10 percent reduction in its windtunnel and CFD allocation by the FIA's Cost Cap Administration after breaching spending regulations by just over £1.8m.

The penalty was met with mixed reactions in the paddock, with Mercedes and Ferrari among those criticising it as being too lenient, while Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described the sanctions as "draconian".

Writing in his Unibet column, two-time champion Hakkinen said: “The first thing to say is that I am glad this matter is now closed and the FIA’s penalty accepted by Red Bull.

“With technical and sporting regulations you generally have a clear decision, for example, if the car is under the weight limit or a driver goes outside the track limits, but with the financial regulations, there was always likely to be a grey area.

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"I think that is why everyone accepted two levels to breaking the budget cap - a minor or major overspend. The FIA recognised there could be various levels of overspending and reasons for doing so.

“Red Bull’s penalty for the minor overspend is still significant. Far more than the financial or aerodynamic penalty, it has been an uncomfortable experience for the team."

The FIA had deliberately avoided specifying what penalties would be awarded for each variant of budget cap breach so as not to put a price on overspending.

With a precedent now set, Hakkinen is confident that teams will have been suitably deterred from breaking the spending limits in future years.

He added: "The good thing is that no team will want to risk repeating this next year.

"So although it has been a very difficult and controversial moment for Red Bull, I believe it will benefit F1 in the long term because every team boss will be determined not to have this kind of negative publicity in future.”