Red Bull have been offered an 'accepted breach agreement' in the wake of the governing body's accusation that the team broke cost cap rules in 2021, according to a report.
Last week, the FIA found the team guilty of a "minor" budget cap breach after studying the accounts of all 10 teams from last season. But soon after, Red Bull released a statement of their own in which they stood their ground and asserted their belief that they had not overspent.
The situation will be discussed at the United States Grand Prix this weekend. Christian Horner will be appearing in the team principals' press conference on Saturday morning, but it seems the Red Bull boss wants to confront the subject head on before then.
Red Bull have called a press conference of their own, set to take place on Friday morning in Texas. The timing of that meeting with reporters coincides with a report from BBC Sport's F1 correspondent Andrew Benson regarding the status of Red Bull's investigation.
In a post on social media, he revealed the sport's bosses have come up with a proposed punishment for their alleged rule-breaking, which has been relayed to the team. "The FIA has made an offer to Red Bull for the terms of an 'accepted breach agreement' [ABA] for them breaching the cost cap," he wrote.
"Details, as with all issues on this matter, are confidential for now. Now Red Bull have to decide whether to accept or go before an adjudication panel." At the press conference, the team may well reveal its decision about what it wants to do next.
Accepting an ABA would mean admitting to the breach, publicly. The team's decision would depend upon whether or not they are willing to do that, and also upon whether they are prepared to take the punishment that has been suggested by the FIA.
If not, then they could take their chances and take the case to an adjudication panel. There, they may be able to prove their innocence – but a more severe punishment could be handed out if they were to lose that battle.
But once again, no clarity has been offered by the governing body. More than 10 days on from the initial accusation, fans are still in the dark as to how much Red Bull overspent by, what that spending was on and what punishment they may receive as a result.
