“It’s tricky”: Jost Capito explains why Red Bull got confused and got $7 million fine

One of the biggest stories in F1 over the last few weeks has been about Red Bull breaching the budget cap. They overspent by $2.2 million which was reduced to $432,000 later. The team released a statement saying that catering costs contributed to them exceeding the limit, which a lot of people labeled as an excuse.

However, Red Bull is not the only team to have had problems regarding catering costs. Aston Martin was also found guilty of the same crime although they had to pay a fine of only $450,000. This was also down to catering costs and their team principal Mike Krack insisted that he had no idea how it went wrong.

Williams’ boss Jost Capito meanwhile, has a clear grasp of how catering led to such big fines for them. He explained how eating inside the paddock makes a huge difference compared to when the team members eat outside. It’s tougher for the accountants to keep track of the amount of money spent outside. That’s why they all prefer the catering to be taken care of within the paddock itself.

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FIA regulations confused Red Bull, says Jost Capito

Capito said to Motorsport Total that confusion was the main reason behind Red Bull’s overspending. The regulations don’t clearly state which part of catering costs are under the budget cap limit. Capito feels that this is something that has to be properly clarified in the regulations as we head into another F1 season.

“For the team, it is much cheaper, simpler, and less complicated if they eat in the hospitality and there is less risk,” the Williams boss said. “And yet you can’t do that because then it falls under the cost cap. And if you eat outside, it doesn’t.”

“The cost-cap regulations are so complicated you can’t get them 100% right straight away. I’m sure they will get much better over the years.”

Alpine and Williams feel FIA’s penalty for overspending was fair

After weeks of investigation, the FIA announced that Red Bull would have to pay a fine of $7 million. On top of that, they would also have a 10% reduction in their wind-tunnel time. A lot of people within the F1 community felt that this was not fair and that Red Bull got off easy.

However, Capito feels that the penalty handed out was severe enough. He’s not the only team boss to say this as he joins Alpine’s Otmar Szafnauer in feeling that the FIA dealt with this appropriately.

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