Red Bull hold FIA talks but no deal as Horner set to face rivals
The weekend has so far been dominated by talk of Red Bull being found in breach of the $145m spending limit set during Max Verstappen’s title-winning campaign in 2021.
F1’s governing body the FIA has proposed terms for an ‘Accepted Breach Agreement’ (ABA) to Red Bull but a resolution appears no closer to being reached as of Friday evening.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner met FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for talks which lasted around 15 minutes between Friday’s two practice sessions in Austin.
En na dik een kwartier komen ze samen naar buiten, Horner en Ben Sulayem. #F1 pic.twitter.com/SsAEseJ584
— Erik van Haren (@ErikvHaren) October 21, 2022
The Milton Keynes-based outfit has two options; accept the ABA, which is an admission of guilt and a penalty, or challenge the FIA’s verdict.
Details surrounding the exact figure of Red Bull’s breach, and the potential penalty the team could receive, remain confidential.
If Red Bull, who have always maintained their innocence, decide to fight the FIA’s findings, the matter would go to an adjudication panel of independent judges to decide whether the party is guilty.
Red Bull postponed a planned press briefing to address the situation on Friday morning after Ben Sulayem delayed a meeting with Horner, which had initially been scheduled for Thursday evening.
However, Horner will square off with two of his most vocal rivals in the cost cap saga - Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto and McLaren’s Zak Brown - in a press conference on Saturday.
It promises to be a tense affair, especially after Brown wrote a letter to the FIA in which he said breaking the cost cap “constitutes cheating” and called for penalties that will hit Red Bull financially and on the track.
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