Red Bull chief Christian Horner warned Formula 1 fans to expect a tidal wave of cost cap drama next year as he predicted more than half the grid could overspend in 2022.
He suggested up to six teams may end up being in breach of the rules, as costs spiral through inflation and rising energy costs, among other things. The claim came as Horner was reacting to the punishment his team received for their own overspend during the 2021 campaign.
The FIA found they have overspent had by just over £1.8m, which equated to 1.6% of the cap. The governing body acknowledged that a significant proportion of that had come from a tax credit which was not applied correctly – had that not been the case, the figure would have come down to £432k, or 0.37%.
For their rule breach, Red Bull were fined £6m and had 10% of their aerodynamic testing time over the next 12 months taken away from them. Horner said the punishment has now set a precedent for the future, and suggested he will be watching closely if any of the other teams go over the cap this year.
"The danger for 2022 is that there could be six teams in breach of the cap," said Horner. "Energy prices have been increasing exponentially, but thankfully we've been protected from that.
"There is that chance that several teams, many of which have stated it during F1 commission meetings, will break the cap this year. We do not believe that we will break the cap in 2022.
"But these penalties set a precedent for the future. So if you get 10% [taken off aero testing time] for a 0.37% [of total cost cap] breach, what is a 5% breach going to look like?"
Reacting to the punishment, Horner described the fine as "enormous" and the sporting penalty regarding aero time as "draconian". He added that the reduced amount of testing they will be able to do could be worth up to half a second per lap in terms of car performance.
And asked if he felt his team owed others an apology for breaking the rules, the Red Bull chief suggested that their rivals should be saying sorry for accusing them of cheating. "There was no intent, nothing dishonest and certainly no cheating involved, which has been alleged in some corners," he added.
