FIA offers Red Bull a deal over F1 cost cap breach

The FIA has reportedly offered Red Bull a deal over their cost cap breach for the 2021 season. While the details of this deal are currently confidential, the team will have to choose whether to accept it or appear before an adjudication panel.

The cost cap breach-saga continues with the Austrian team now being offered a 'deal' by the FIA. As reported by the BBC's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson, the two entities will take the matter further, leading to further speculation in the sport. The team will now likely have the option of accepting the consequences that the FIA sets for breaking the 2021 cost cap, or instead choose to plead innocent in front of a higher authority. Details of the said deal, however, are currently undisclosed.

Andrew Benson tweeted about the cost cap saga, saying:

"The FIA has made an offer to Red Bull for the terms of an "accepted breach agreement" for them breaching the cost cap. 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."

It will be interesting to see how the Austrian team chooses to proceed with their case over the course of this weekend.

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Former F1 supremo claims Red Bull will be in big trouble over cost cap breach

According to former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Red Bull are in for big trouble with their cost cap breach. When asked by Blick whether the Austrian team could lose their 2021 F1 championship, he said that it could be worse for the team.

The report on the alleged cost cap breach was first released by two publications during the 2022 F1 Singapore GP weekend. The report stated that Red Bull are one of the two teams that allegedly breached the cost cap during the 2021 season – the other being Aston Martin F1.

When asked if the team could potentially lose their 2021 title due to the breach, Ecclestone told Blick:

"It will get worse."

The former F1 supremo, however, did not comment on what exactly could happen to Max Verstappen's team if they are found guilty. The team is on the cusp of the constructors' title this season, which they could clinch at the US GP in Austin this weekend.

Meanwhile, McLaren boss Zak Brown has reportedly written a letter to the FIA requesting sporting penalties for the Bulls for their cost cap breach. Part of his letter read:

"The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development. We don't feel a financial penalty alone would be a suitable penalty for an overspend breach or a serious procedural breach. There clearly needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA."

With no obvious end in sight to the cost cap saga, we will have to wait to see the team's fate.