Red Bull Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey has a salary of $10 million which could lead to bigger problems for the team.
Over the last few days, Red Bull’s cost cap breach has been under the spotlight. It was under speculation for weeks, before the FIA finally confirmed it earlier this week, and most of the F1 community is demanding big punishment for them.
At the start of the 2021 season, it was revealed that teams could spend a maximum of $145 million in a calendar year. FIA has found out that Red Bull ‘minorly’ overspent their allocated budget. The exact amount is not clear as it could be a matter of just a few thousand dollars or even go up to the minor overspend threshold of $7.25 million.
Several reports on the other hand state that Red Bull has overspent by $2 million, but the investigation surrounding their cost cap breach is still not over. However, according to AMuS, Adrian Newey’s position in the team could lead to bigger problems for them.
Red Bull listed Adrian Newey as a contractor to find a budget cap loophole
According to sources, Newey gets paid $10 million a year at Red Bull. However, the Milton-Keynes-based outfit does not have him listed as the CTO of the company. Instead, he’s signed up with them as a contractor.
Contractors’ salaries aren’t counted in the main budget so it’s possible that Red Bull was searching for a loophole.
This RB cost cap saga is not going away without a bang. I now see reports that the main itchy point is Adrian Newey’s salary, which is reportedly around $10mln a year. If he was neither on the books nor listed as one of the top 3 highest earners, trouble may be ahead. #F1 #FIA
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) October 13, 2022
This was done so that they could exclude Newey’s salary from the expenditure summary. On top of that, he’s also not one of the top three earners at Red Bull. If this is something that catches the FIA’s eyes, it could spell more trouble for them.
Also read: “The car canoed”: Jack Doohan reveals how Daniel Ricciardo crashed because of McLaren in Monaco
What punishment will Max Verstappen’s team get?
The 2022 F1 season was hugely successful for Red Bull on track. It went off to a poor start with two retirements in three races for Max Verstappen. However, since then they have been absolutely unstoppable.
At last weekend’s Japanese GP, the Dutch driver sealed his second consecutive Title win. With just four races left, Red Bull themselves are on course to securing their first Constructors’ Championship since 2013.
Red Bull breached cost cap rules in 2021 in a championship that was decided by the barest of margins. It will have been enough to give them the upper hand. Verstappen’s first WC is TAINTED. #F1 #CostCapChampion
— Mitch Fretton (@mitch_fretton) October 10, 2022
Amidst all this success, fans wonder if their celebrations will be cut short if the FIA punish them. However, Red Bull’s budget cap breach has been that of the 2021 F1 season so it shouldn’t have any effect on this year’s Title run. The most likely punishment for them seems to be a hefty fine but a lot of fans are calling for big points deduction in both Championships for them.
