Christian Horner and his Red Bull F1 team have been enjoying the hegemony of the grid for a couple of years. For a long time, Mercedes had clear dominance over motorsport from 2014 to 2021. But at the fag end of 2021, Red Bull took center stage as Max Verstappen won his first driver’s world championship. Since then, the Austrian team has not looked back. It is like everything has been going in their favor.
However, there was one issue that Red Bull had to fight over. It was when the team breached the budget limit in 2021. F1 introduced this cost cap regulation the same year. It is fair to mention that in the new era of the cost cap, the Milton Keynes team looks like the most powerful team on the grid. They won both the driver’s world titles and the constructor’s championship last year. However, things have not been as easy as it seems for Red Bull.
Red Bull Boss Claims Rival F1 Team Tried To Steal Their Sponsors
Because of the cost cap scandal in the year 2021, the Milton Keynes team had to pay a fine of $7 million and a 10% reduction in the wind tunnel. But as it turns out, this was not the end of the problems for Red Bull. Recently, boss Christian Horner mentioned, “A rival F1 team has conspired to influence their sponsors, saying Red Bull team is bad for their reputation.” Some anonymous team tried to play a nasty game with the Austrian team. It is not clear if Christian Horner actually knows who is responsible. Red Bull boss left it to everyone else’s imagination about which rival F1 team it might be.
However, Horner added that it would have looked awful if their sponsors actually believed that they were bad for the company’s image. But things panned out well for Red Bull and their sponsors. However, there was another speculation regarding the current champions breaching the cost cap in 2022 as well. Christian Horner mentioned they had tried their best to build the car within the budget. But he could not confirm if they had not repeated the past mistake. According to Horner, until FIA gives them the certificate of maintaining the budget limit, there is no guarantee.
The Milton Keynes Team Enjoying A Healthy Lead Over The Rest
Other than these cost cap issues, there is no stopping the Austrian team as they are looking to maintain their dominance on the grid as long as they can. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are cruising to the top of the standings. They don’t want to give the other contenders like Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari any chance to close the gap.
Max Verstappen is enjoying a healthy lead over the rest, but Checo is doing pretty well too. The Dutchman has a lead of 15 points over his teammate. Checo has a lead of 9 points over the third-place holder, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. However, the former champion, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, is struggling because of the car. Currently, the seven-time champion is holding 4th place.
