Having faced the adverse effects of breaching the cost cap on the finances and aerodynamic development, Red Bull Christian Horner now claims that there will be at least 6 teams in breach of the 2022 budget cap.
The Milton-Keynes-based team became the first one to violate the cost cap by 0.37%. While the FIA categorised this violation under a ‘minor breach’, the team has been penalised to pay $7 Million and a 10% reduction in the wind tunnel time and CFD programme over the next 12 months.
The latter is argued to affect the team’s car development in the 2023 season. Horner claimed that the reduction in the wind tunnel time might even cost the team 0.5 seconds in lap time performance.
The Briton thinks that with these hefty penalties, the FIA has set a precedent for the rest of the grid in the future.
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Christian Horner explains why 6 teams will breach the cost cap this year
Horner thinks that the danger of a cost cap breach looms on 6 teams in the 2022 season. The reason for this is an exponential rise in energy prices.
The Red Bull team principal claims that this year his team won’t be in breach of the cost cap but there is a solid chance that some of the other teams might have fallen prey to the rising energy prices.
Horner said that many teams, during the F1 Commission meetings, had stated that they would break the cost cap.
Also Read: Red Bull axes upgrades on RB18 after paying $7 Million fine for budget cap breach
Soaring energy prices cost $7 Million to Mercedes revealed Toto Wolff
Earlier this year, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed how rising prices are affecting the operations of the Brackley-based team.
Wolff said that the team incurred about $2.5 Million to $7 Million in covering the energy costs. On top of that charters and air freights have also soared tremendously.
But, with the hefty penalties that FIA imposed on Red Bull for a 0.37% breach, the governing body has taken an aggressive step in monitoring the budget cap across the grid. It has also demonstrated that any sort of breach will be judged severely.
Also Read: Toto Wolff reveals how energy crises in UK has destabilized Mercedes’ operational expenses
