Red Bull principal Christian Horner warned Formula 1 bosses that the manufacturer would spend 'an extra 10 percent' of whatever budget was introduced.
Red Bull are yet to learn their punishment after being found guilty of committing a 'minor' breach for the 2021 season, with penalties ranging from fines to points deductions. Max Verstappen controversially won the championship last year by eight points ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Horner was 'confident', when asked at Singapore, that his team had not broken the cost cap. The Red Bull principal was against the price cap and writing a column on the Red Bull website two years ago suggested they would breach any budget set.
He wrote in 2020: “The problem is, so much is made about the figure of the cost cap that I believe it is missing the point. F1 teams will always spend whatever budget they have available to them. Plus an extra 10 percent.
“It is impossible to compare the spending of Ferrari to Haas, of Mercedes to Racing Point or even from Red Bull to AlphaTauri. They are all completely different structures and business models.
“I fully support the need to reduce costs and ensure that all 10 teams remain in the sport but there are many ways to accomplish that goal and they are not all just about lowering the cost cap.”
To determine the punishment, the FIA will work with Red Bull to come to an agreement, which would be published publicly. The F1 team is set to appeal the decision.
Of the 10 teams, Red Bull were the only ones the FIA said had overspent during last season. Aston Martin were also found guilty of a "procedural breach" but did not go over the cost cap.
In a statement Red Bull said that they were "surprised and disappointed" to be told they had broken the cost cap.
"Our 2021 submission was below the cost cap limit, so we need to carefully review the FIA's findings as our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost cap amount," the team's statement continued.
"Despite the conjecture and positioning of others, there is of course a process under the regulations with the FIA which we will respectfully follow while we consider all the options available to us."
