Red Bull team boss Christian Horner did not hold back when responding to the speculation that the team exceeded Formula One’s budget cap during the 2021 season.
He went as far as to call the comments “fictitious claims” and that “they’re hugely defamatory” during Saturday’s press conference. The FIA is expected to complete its analysis of each team’s final budget from the 2021 season, for which the cap was set at $145 million. Currently, there’s speculation that two teams exceeded the cap, and reports ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend claimed Red Bull may be one of the two teams.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff did not name the two speculated team, but he did call it an “open secret” in the paddock. Horner had previously stated that Red Bull did not exceed the cap, and when asked about it, Wolff said to Sky F1, “It’s funny Christian says that because it’s been weeks and months they’re being investigated, so maybe he doesn’t speak to his CFO… All of us have been investigated diligently. And as far as we understand, there’s a team in minor breach, which is more procedural, and another team that is fundamentally massively over and that is that is being still looked after.”
