Red Bull boss Christian Horner says team were ‘several million’ below F1 cost cap in 2022

Christian Horner says Red Bull was under F1’s cost limit last year as the FIA ​​continued to work with the teams in relation to last year’s financial findings; Watch the Belgian GP live from Spa-Francorchamps on Sky Sports F1 from 28-30 July

Amid ongoing fieldwork from the FIA ​​into last year’s financial submissions from teams, Christian Horner has revealed Red Bull was “several million” below the F1 cost cap in 2022.

Last year, Red Bull was found guilty of “slightly overspending” for the 2021 campaign and was fined $7 million and cut by 10 percent of their wind tunnel time for this season.

Reports ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix claimed at least two F1 teams broke the cost cap last year, but sky sports news Understands that these allegations are completely baseless.

A cost cap was introduced for the 2021 season and current fieldwork is looking at the 2022 season, when the budget cap was $140 million. The cap is $135 million for this season and the following two campaigns through 2025.

“Last year, Max [Verstappen] damaged a front wing and Checo [Perez] There was a crash in Montreal, and again we did a very limited amount of development on the car,” explained Horner. Sky Sports F1,

“So we were several million below the limit last year, and because the accident damage and the development — those are huge costs.

“Obviously this year, the biggest constraint we have is lack of wind tunnel time, it runs significantly less than a week compared to any of our competitors, so we have to be very disciplined on how we focus on our development.”

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Christian Horner says winning 12 races in a row was ‘incredible’ and says it has been a pleasure to work with Max Verstappen, ‘a player at the top of his game’.

On his thoughts about those who think Red Bull hasn’t been punished enough this year after breaching cost limits in 2021, Horner replied: “Believe me the lack of wind tunnel time we have compared to our competitors is a big deal. If wind tunnels don’t count, why don’t we get rid of them?”

“It’s easy to cast shadows when you’re not performing. It’s one of those things in F1 that will always happen. I’m incredibly proud of the work our team is doing, despite the odds and the odds, to perform at the level we have this year.”

Wolff: We need to prevent any breach of the cost cap

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is “concerned” about potential breaches, while George Russell says repeat offenders should be punished more severely.

Toto Wolff says that Cost Cap auditors have been communicating with the teams about their submissions.

“They came back with a lot of questions for a lot of the teams and that shows how robust the process is, which is a good thing,” Wolff said.

“Strong auditors are beneficial to F1. We need to prevent any sort of unintentional or deliberate breach of the cost limit. It’s like technical and sporting regulations.

Lewis Hamilton “concerned” about possible breaches of cost cap

“Large teams have thousands of people and different projects – commercial and non-commercial. For us it is a bit easier because we have everything in one unit. All employees are in one place and you can see where they are attributed.

“It gets more complicated when you have a greater diversity of subsidiaries. I’ve never been shy about saying that with the 2026 rules we should get rid of them all altogether.

“In the real world, it is quite a challenge because we are making revenue and money with our engineering projections. I think it is the right thing for the sport to say it is F1 and it is not F1.”

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Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater and David Croft believe it is too early to confirm reports that three teams have breached cost cap rules.

FIA responds to cost cap speculation

A spokesman for the FIA ​​said: “We would like to reiterate the process underway prior to financial regulation certification for the teams – none of whom have been informed of their certification status.

“The auditing fieldwork is still ongoing and is due to conclude in the coming weeks, after which a period will be required to finalize the review.

“There is, and never has been, a specific deadline for certification, and any suggestion of a delay or potential breaches in this process is completely unfounded – the COST CAP Administration will formally communicate its findings in accordance with the procedure set out in the Financial Rules.

“The time limit has been deliberately not fixed so as not to adversely affect the robustness and effectiveness of the review.”

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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments from the past few years at the Belgian Grand Prix

Sky Sports F1 Live Belgium GP Schedule

Thursday 27 July
2 p.m.: Drivers’ press conference

Friday 28 July
8.55 am: Formula 3 practice
10am: Formula 2 practice
12 Noon: Belgian GP Practice One (session starts 12.30 pm)
1.55 PM: Formula 3 Qualifying
2.50 pm: Formula 2 Qualifying
3.35 PM: Belgian GP Qualifying Build-up
4 pm: Belgian GP Qualifying
6 p.m.: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday 29 July
8.55 am: Formula 3 Sprint Race
10.30 am: Belgian GP sprint shootout build-up
11 am: Belgian GP Sprint Shootout
12.40 pm: Formula 2 Sprint Race
2.30 PM: Belgian GP Sprint Build-up
3.30 PM: Belgian GP Sprint
5 p.m.: Ted’s Sprint Notebook

Sunday 30 July
7.25 am: Formula 3 Feature Race
8.55 am: Formula 2 Feature Race
12.30 pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Belgian GP Build-up
2 pm: Belgian Grand Prix
4pm: The checkered flag – Belgian GP reaction
5 p.m.: Ted’s Notebook

Then there’s the Belgian GP, ​​the last race before F1’s summer break – watch all of the sprint weekend sessions live on Sky Sports F1 from 28-30 July. Stream the Belgian GP and more now with,