‘Our submission was below’ - Red Bull's response to budget cap breach “rumours"

Reports in Italy and German on Friday named Red Bull and Aston Martin as two teams believed have broken the $145m cap that was introduced last year in the hope of levelling the playing field and making the sport more sustainable. 

There has been growing speculation in the F1 paddock that Red Bull breached the spending limit during Max Verstappen’s title-winning 2021 campaign, while Ferrari have also questioned the team’s rate of development this season. 

But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner issued a defiant response at the Singapore Grand Prix, describing the talk as “rumours”. 

“We’re certainly not aware of any [breach],” Horner told Sky after opening practice in Singapore.

“The accounts were submitted back in March, so it’s been a long process with the FIA. We’re in that process as we speak. They’re rightly following that process and I think next week is when they declare their certificates. 

“Our submission was below the cap, and it’s down to the FIA to follow their process, which they’re currently doing.” 

The FIA informed teams this week they would be releasing their report into budget cap compliance with the 2021 financial regulations on October 5, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. 

F1’s governing body have since confirmed that any violation will be “dealt with.” 

"Inevitably, it’s a brand new set of regulations and a set of very complicated regulations,” Horner continued. "How the rules are interpreted and applied are going to be subjective between the team. 

“I’m sure as years go by, things will get tidied up. We’re confident in our submission. The FIA are in a process. 

“There’s always going to be rumours. I’ve heard of major breaches and whatever – I’m certainly not aware of that.” 

Horner expressed confidence in Red Bull’s submissions and said every team will face the same level of scrutiny from the FIA. 

“They would’ve looked at every team’s submitted accounts,” he said. “They’re following a process and that conclusion date has been moved from July to September, and now to October. 

“It’s a big job, a lot for them to get through. We’re confident in our submissions, so anything other than that, we’ll wait to hear from the FIA.” 

Horner added: “We do our due diligence, we get audited anyway, it’s a similar process to that, working with an auditor. It’s slightly bespoke to F1. 

“Clarifications have been coming even after the submissions were made. You can see how immature the process is, but the FIA has been working hard on it and doing the best they can.”