Mercedes: Describing Red Bull's cost cap breach penalty as 'draconian is an exaggeration'

Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin believes that Red Bull are exaggerating the repercussions of the penalty they are set to face. The team was recently affixed with a fine of $7m and a 10 percent wind tunnel time reduction for the upcoming season.

Speaking at Saturday’s FIA press conference ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, Mercedes reacted to Red Bull's 'draconian' penalty:

“It’s not as big as the penalty if your position is two places higher. So I think describing it as draconian is an exaggeration. Reducing the number of runs does limit your freedom when developing a concept, but we’re in reasonably well-explored regulations now. But you definitely have to be more efficient.”

Shovlin admitted that although Red Bull will have to be efficient with their limited aero testing time, they are not at a significant disadvantage:

“It depends how well you make decisions through the year. I would have thought a tenth, maybe two-tenths at the upper end, is realistically what that will cost you. Would only be about four or five runs different. I don’t know the exact number, I haven’t worked it out. Where it would be costly is if you’ve chosen an incorrect concept and need to backtrack, it’s removing that freedom to explore different avenues.”

Red Bull were found guilty of breaching the 2021 cost cap and were negotiating their penalty for the past few weeks. After winning the constructors', the Austrian outfit were already at a disadvantage of lesser tunnel time but will now face more restrictions.

However, the penalty is not deemed to be sufficient by several teams. Many in the sport have questioned if Red Bull will even be affected by the punishment at all.

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Red Bull boss claims that the team had zero performance benefits from 2021 breach

Red Bull boss Christian Horner claimed that the team did not overspend in 2021 to maximize their car performance. The Briton even further expressed his shock that only the Austrian outfit were in breach.

Speaking at the press conference held after the Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) was released, Horner stressed:

"I stand by the statement there was zero benefit because the amount we want over - as I've just explained - we believe there are mitigating factors. If we went over because of sick pay, if we went over because we paid people that we felt weren't in the cap, in terms of cost within catering - not one penny was spent on performance of the vehicle. Not one penny was spent on the performance of the car. I'm astounded that there are no other teams that have found themselves in this position, but good for them that eight of them were fully compliant."

The team has already picked up the constructors' and drivers' titles for 2022. However, many await to see if the Milton-Keynes-based outfit will be able to mirror a similar streak next year.