The FIA on Friday ordered the F1 championship team Red Bull to pay a US$7 million fine and forfeit wind tunnel time as punishment for overspending by $1.8 million during Max Verstappen's first championship season.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands walks away from his car after hitting a wall during the third free practice session at the Baku Formula One city circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, June 5, 2021. Fancy catering and energy drinks. Social security contributions and medical treatments for an employee that survived their illness.
Horner also strongly intimated Red Bull was targeted because of its on-track success and blasted the initial leak that the FIA was investigating a potential spending breach. He said the weeks of paddock sniping and cheating accusations damaged Red Bull's reputation and the team only “begrudgingly” settled with the FIA to end the saga that has engrossed the world's top motorsports series.
Horner had compulsive note-keeping on the entire process, noting Red Bull was informed it was over the cap exactly 19 minutes after Verstappen won his second F1 title on Oct. 9. To hear Horner's nearly 50-minute long defense of Red Bull's spending, the saga seems trite. He spent a great deal of time defending high-end catering services, and included a reference to Red Bull's sick pay policy. Horner said the team paid sick leave to an employee as an excludable cost, but “had the person died, and thankfully they didn't, the cost would have been excluded.”