Ferrari lists 2 major flaws in FIA's penalty for Red Bull over F1 cost cap breach

Ferrari’s sporting chief Laurent Mekies recently claimed that the Scuderia were unhappy with the penalty handed to Red Bull by the FIA over their F1 cost cap breach.

Red Bull reportedly overspent by 1.3% and was in turn handed a $7 million penalty for being in "minor breach" of the cost cap regulation. Additionally, a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing restrictions (ATR) was also applied. Ferrari, however, believe that the penalty does not do justice to the breach, given that there has been no impact on Red Bull's cost cap for next season.

Speaking to Sky Italia after FP2 at the 2022 F1 Mexican GP, Mekies said:

“As for the penalty, we are not happy with it, for two important reasons. The first is that we at Ferrari do not understand how the 10% reduction of the ATR can correspond to the same amount of lap time that we mentioned earlier.”

“Furthermore, there is another problem in that. Since there is no cost cap reduction in the penalty, the basic effect is to push the competitor to spend the money elsewhere. It has total freedom to use the money it can no longer spend on use of the wind tunnel and CFD due to the 10% reduction, on reducing the weight of the car, or who knows what else. Our concern is that the combination of these two factors means the real effect of the penalty is very limited.”

Mekies, however, accepted that it is in everyone's best interest to move on from the matter, saying:

“We have no choice but to move on and I believe it is very important for us and also for the whole of F1 and the fans, that for 2022, we do not have to wait until next October to see the outcome of the accounts. We will support the FIA to do what is needed to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.”

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Red Bull "begrudgingly" accept the FIA's penalties over cost cap breach

From the very beginning, Red Bull has denied having overspent on their budget last season and continue to claim that there is a mere difference in "interpretation". Team boss Christian Horner emphasized that in the best interest of the sport, the team has consented to the Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) to close the chapter and move on rather than let the speculations get out of hand over a long period.

As reported by Sky Sports F1, the Briton said that Red Bull "begrudgingly" accepted the penalties handed by the FIA, stating:

"We could have been looking at a 12-month period to have this situation closed. The amount of speculation, commenting, and sniping that has been going on in the paddock, we felt that it was in everybody's interest - our interest, the FIA's interest, in F1's interest - to say, 'we close the book', and we close the book here and today. We accept the penalties, begrudgingly, but we accept them."

The team insists that the penalties are greater than necessary, while others claim that the fines and reductions in ATR are insignificant.