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“An employee of Mercedes moved to FIA”: Red Bull chief accuses Toto Wolff’s team for leaking their cost cap data

Somin Bhattacharjee
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“An employee of Mercedes moved to FIA”: Red Bull chief accuses Toto Wolff’s team for leaking their cost cap data

Red Bull has been under fire over the last few weeks after the FIA found them guilty of breaching the cost cap. The latter’s introduction itself was not a popular decision among the top teams, but they have been at Red Bull’s throats for overspending.

After an investigation, the FIA decided to penalize the Milton-Keynes-based outfit by fining them a sum of $7 million. On top of that, they have also been given a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time for future developments. Most of the F1 community feels that this punishment is too light but Red Bull insists that it is going to cost them close to half a second.

However, Red Bull are also concerned as to how the FIA got to know about their cost breach. As far as their chief advisor Helmut Marko is concerned, Mercedes leaked documents to the governing body of the sport.

Also read: Max Verstappen weak technically, Sebastian Vettel more complete driver opines ex Red Bull head

Ex- Mercedes employee was responsible for handling Red Bull budget cap documents, says Helmut Marko

This is not the first time Marko has raised concerns about Mercedes’ close connection to the FIA. HE previously stated how the Silver Arrows’ team principal Toto Wolff is close to Shaila-Ann Rao.

In an interview with RTL, the Austrian mentioned the fact that Rao was in charge of handling the budget-cap investigation at the FIA.

“An employee of Mercedes moved to the FIA,” the 79-year-old said. “Worked on these documents for the cost cap at Mercedes and was responsible for checking them at the FIA. There is certainly a compliance violation. The whole thing does not make a good impression.”

Also read: “I wanted everything”: Valtteri Bottas admits he was too hard on himself when he had all resources in hand

Marko insists budget-cap penalty was due to pressure from other F1 teams

The budget cap in F1 was introduced only last year. While it wasn’t a popular decision among the richer teams, they were forced to comply with it. When they got to know that Red Bull had breached it, they took every opportunity in hand to make sure the Austrian team were punished.

This is what led to them getting penalized according to Marko. The Red Bull boss feels that without the pressure from teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, the FIA would not have acted so harshly.

Marko also added that plenty of teams will breach the budget cap in the future. However, the penalty will not be as harsh as teams will be more used to it.

 

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Basketball Editor Somin Bhattacharjee first discovered the game during the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Not long after, he turned to the NBA and found himself drawn to the Golden State Warriors — right at the start of Stephen Curry’s rise. Over time, the admiration turned into full-blown support for the team, one that continues even as the Curry era approaches its twilight. A true hoophead, Somin also follows EuroLeague basketball closely and enjoys exploring the game beyond the NBA. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. Since 2021, he has penned over 3,000 articles for TheSportsRush, covering everything from breaking news to sharp opinion pieces and detailed exclusives. He thrives on writing about in-game moments and the reactions that make basketball a uniquely emotional sport. Beyond basketball, Somin plays different sports including soccer and remains a passionate fan of Spanish football giants Real Madrid

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