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Max Verstappen (here in Abu Dhabi in 2021): The Formula 1 driver is allowed to keep his first world title
Photo:
Jerry Andre / imago images/Laci Perenyi
The trouble about Red Bull spending too much last year is off the table, nothing will change in the 2021 World Cup result with Max Verstappen’s triumph.
The world champion team accepted the offer of the International Automobile Association Fia and thus also admitted the illegal additional expenses.
As a penalty, Red Bull must pay seven million dollars within 30 days and accept the restriction of aerodynamic tests over a period of 12 months.
This was announced by the rulers of Formula 1 and the team on Friday.
The Fia had approached Red Bull after a months-long investigation and had proposed a so-called accepted breach of contract.
A right of objection then no longer exists.
Red Bull's competitors, drivers and team bosses, had recently called for tough sanctions in Austin, and there was even talk of fraud.
According to the Fia, Red Bull spent the equivalent of around 2.15 million US dollars more than was allowed (148.6).
However, this surplus is below the five percent mark and is rated as “minor”.
Because the team had also shown itself to be cooperative and it was also the first year of the budget limit, Fia Red Bull had made the offer to accept breach of contract.
That Verstappen loses his first world title was off the table.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner had emphasized that his team had no development advantage through additional spending.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had not accepted this argument in Austin and after Horner's reckoning reacted with ridicule and scorn.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who lost to Verstappen in a dramatic final in 2021, even saw the integrity of the sport in danger.
"When we talk about integrity, it's about how we navigate core values," Hamilton said.
He had to believe that Fia President Mohammed bin Sulayem and his team would make the right decision, he said about a week ago.
"If you take it easy on yourself, all teams will overdo it and spend millions (too much)," emphasized the 37-year-old.
The Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), who was still working for Mercedes last year and was therefore a direct Red Bull competitor, said: “Rules are rules.
If you break these, there should be a penalty that hurts.
I'm hoping for tough sanctions that really hurt."
Toto Wolff taunted Red Bull
Horner escalated the affair last Saturday before the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
It was shocking that McLaren CEO Zak Brown - who was sitting next to him during Horner's testimonies - alleged fraud in a letter not sent to Red Bull to the FIA and the Formula 1 top.
He had also pointed out how complex the set of rules was.
A total of 52 pages is all about the budget limit.
Horner also said that children had been bullied by employees on the playground after Red Bull had been pilloried for so long.
While Brown had not verbally fueled the argument any further, Mercedes team boss Wolff had said: "I almost had to shed a tear when I heard that." Nine teams had kept to the budget limit and were now the victim.
After racing teams are said to have spent several hundred million dollars in the past, Formula 1 had agreed on a spending limit after years of recurring discussions.
This is intended to achieve greater equality of opportunity among the participating teams.
kjo/dpa
