F1 rivals wanted Red Bull to be 'hanged' over cost cap breach, reveals FIA President

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem claimed some teams wanted Red Bull to receive a much harsher penalty for breaching the 2021 F1 cost cap. The Milton Keynes-based squad was found to be in breach of last year's cost cap, leading to widespread criticism of both its members and drivers.

The auditing process of the 2021 season revealed that the Austrian team was in 'minor breach' of the $145 million budget restriction and as a result was handed a $7 million fine along with a reduction in wind tunnel testing time for the 2023 season. Despite penalties being handed out to Max Verstappen and the squad, Ben Sulayem claims some teams wanted much harsher penalties for Red Bull. He told the media:

"I believe that there was a balance between [the financials] and the sporting penalties [handed to the team]. But we learned a lot [from the process] and a big review is going into it, because who knows in the first year [of the cost cap] what is going to be the outcome? If you look at the other big teams, they will say we have been light on them. [In terms of] the penalty, some of them want [Red Bull] to be hanged, they wanted to see blood, and the teams themselves see this as [a] huge [thing] themselves."

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Red Bull boss recalls fond memories with Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull boss Christian Horner reminisced on Sebastian Vettel's time with the Austrian team, where the German won all four of his world championship titles. The veteran driver retired from the sport at the end of the 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, finishing his stint in the sport off in style by scoring one championship point.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, during the team representative's press conference, Horner reminisced about Vettel's time in the Austrian team and said:

"He came to us as a young kid with a brace and a funny haircut. And he just grew in that time as a Red Bull Junior. He’s just got such an endearing personality. He’d turn up with chocolates for the receptionist and the secretaries and he just endeared himself to everybody, had the ability to mimic and impersonate so many different accents from cockney slang to Nigel Mansell, his Jean Todt was legendary. So, just a brilliant, brilliant character. And an even more brilliant driver."

Sebastian Vettel has now bowed out of the sport that he loves, leaving the entire F1 world brokenhearted. As world champions such as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso have proved, however, it is always good to remain hopeful of Vettel's return to the sport in the future.