Christian Horner and team Red Bull faced a lot of criticism in 2021 for the cost cap issue. It was definitely a season of highs and lows for Red Bull as they won the long-awaited driver\’s championship but had difficulties adjusting to the new rules. The Cost Cap rule was introduced in the Formula One Circuit in the year 2021 to give a fair chance to all the teams on the basis of their budgets.
Generally, the powerhouses of Formula One Motorsport, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari enjoy an advantage over the other teams. Mainly regarding the quality of the machine of their cars. This advantage is primarily due to the big budgets they can afford every season, which is not the same for every racing team.
However, under the new law, the teams will be allowed the same budget enabling a fair deal to extract the best out of every car of every team. Hence the groups that have been enjoying the use of an unlimited budget are going through a challenging phase to adapt to the low budget. It looks like the current champions have the most difficult time adjusting.
Already in the first year of the introduction of the budget cap law, the Red Bull team had to pay $7 million for exceeding the limit. The documents from FIA cleared that the Austrian team spent a little bit more money than the expectations according to the new law. As a result, Christian Horner and the team had to suffer the consequences. Red Bull crossed the budget limit by a minor 1.6%. But it came down to 0.37% after the application of a tax credit.
What Does The FIA Officials And Other Teams Think About Red Bull Exceeding The Budget?
This so-called \’minor\’ overspending in 2021 was causing havoc around the teams and also among the fans. Various factions and fans asked for more severe penalties than just a $ 7 million fine. Speaking about the law of cost cap, Horner expressed his problems with it even for the next season. As he said, \”limiting the process of developing the RB19 cars with the budget cap law is causing significant troubles.\”
FIA Chief Mr. Pat Symonds believes Red Bull could avoid these troubles. If only Horner and his team had opted for the dry run. Symonds said, \”Every team had the option to go for a dry run. Red Bull made a big mistake. Had they gone for the option of a \’dry run,\’ things could have been different for them. Especially regarding the cost cap breach issue.\”
As long as people and the media keep discussing the controversies. The brand image is suffering due to the team\’s budget excession in the 2021 season. According to the Team Principal of the Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff, Red Bull may not have trouble winning titles. But their reputation is on the line regarding their 2021 actions and all. Toto had expressed his love for the original Red Bull company\’s original products.