McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl was not interested in listening to what Red Bull boss Christian Horner had to say.
Earlier this week, the FIA finally revealed what punishment Red Bull was going to get for breaching the cost cap. Most fans and teams wanted them to be severely penalized, even though it was termed as a minor breach.
FIA stated that Red Bull would be fined $7 million and get a 10% reduction in car development time. This is because they overspent by $1,864,000 which is 1.6% more than the allocated budget. Most team principals felt that the punishment was too lenient. McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown insisted that teams won’t take these seriously unless someone gets a stronger punishment.
Horner attended a press conference where he explained how Red Bull was going to react to this verdict. However, Seidl was not interested in hearing what the Brit had to say. According to him, Horner would justify Red Bull’s actions by lying once again.
“It was probably another fairy tale hour,” he said. “Not really interested in that. On a positive note and side, it’s good to see that the FIA did a good job in terms of the audit.”
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Red Bull got off very easy, says Seidl
The addition of cost caps was not the most popular decision when it was first introduced. The big teams were not particularly happy, but were forced to comply to it. The fact that Red Bull still managed to spend more does not sit right with Seidl. The German also stated that it’s not fair on the other teams.
Nine out of ten teams in F1 got everything correct and it was only Red Bull who were at fault. Seidl sees this as a good thing for F1, but adds that FIA’s punishment on Red Bull should’ve been bigger. He hopes that there are bigger penalties given out if something similar happens in the future.
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McLaren have not breached cost cap
McLaren and Red Bull have been at a war of words ever since the latter was accused off breaching the cost cap. Zak Brown in particular has been very vocal about criticizing Horner and his outfit. Seidl meanwhile, insists that they themselves have not breached the cost cap in any way whatsoever.
“We’ve had discussions with all the teams, the FIA and F1 on these topics and it has been made clear,” the 46-year-old concluded. “That is why the cap was adjusted.”
