Helmut Marko has echoed the warning from Christian Horner that more than half the grid could be in excess of the Formula 1 cost cap this season.
The FIA caused a storm last month when it revealed Red Bull were the only team to overspend in 2021. The two sides have since agreed to a £6m fine and a loss of 10% of the team's wind tunnel time, while the governing body accepted that there had been no evidence of any bad faith on Red Bull's behalf.
Amid the furore there was a warning from team principal Horner that the situation may well be a lot worse this year. Speaking to reporters shortly after the punishment was confirmed, he warned fans to prepare for an avalanche of teams exceeding the cap this season.
"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."
In a new interview, Red Bull adviser Marko has echoed that warning as teams continue to face huge rising costs which look, in some cases, unlikely to be offset by the small 3.1% increase to the cap agreed by the FIA earlier this year.
"I think the current status is that six teams are over it," Marko told Auto Motor und Sport. "Inflation is something that was not calculable to that extent, especially when it comes to energy costs."
Red Bull were surprised to learn that they had exceeded the 2021 budget, even issuing a statement after the FIA's accusation in which the team doubled down on its belief that it had not overspent. In the end, it became clear that the team and the FIA had differing views on whether or not some items should have been included in the cap.
Marko also reiterated that message, adding: "It was the first year of the budget cap. The rules were vague. [The FIA] reacted late with clarifications. We had [auditors] Ernst & Young check everything. You have to rely on something. We thought we had a safety net of three million. In the end, there was only $400,000 left."
