Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Red Bull's alleged cost cap breach is a 'massively heavyweight issue'
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said Red Bull’s alleged cost cap breach is a ‘heavyweight’ issue and that he ‘wouldn’t want to be in their position’.
introduced a budget cap last season in an effort to keep down spiralling costs and level the playing field, setting the maximum spend for a season at $145million [£114m].FIA rules state a ‘minor’ overspend of less than five per cent can result in a points deduction or suspensions, while ‘major’ breaches over that figure could lead to ‘exclusion from the championship’., Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he is ‘not aware’ of any breach – news that surprised Wolff.
“But the crucial part is that, if you’ve been over in ’21, then you’ve been over in ’22. That means you have an advantage into ’23. If it’s true that they formulated a lightweight chassis this year, they may use it next year. So it’s really a cascade of events that can be influential on all of the three championships.”
“The judges have all that scope to analyse, but I wouldn’t want to be in their position because of the impact it has over three years.”“At this stage, it is still an assessment of what is happening.
“We’re certainly not aware,” he said about any potential trouble. “The accounts were all submitted way back in March so it’s been a long process with the FIA. “I’m sure as the years go by things will get tidied up but we’re confident in our submission. There’s always going to be rumours. I’ve heard of major breaches and whatever. I’m certainly not aware of that.“Remember, this is the first time this has ever happened, when we do our due diligence, we get audited anyway. It’s a similar process.