Red Bull 2023 dominance partly due to lenient penalty for breaking budget cap

Very light penalty for Red Bull
“In addition to the financial sanction, there is also the sporting penalty, which is of great severity”. – these were the comments made by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner in the recent press conference held to analyze the outcome of the budget cap case which led to 10% less time available in the wind tunnel and in the CFD simulations for Red Bull established by the FIA as punishment for having exceeded the 2021 budget cap with two million dollars – 500 thousand if the tax credit had been correctly applied – an infringement of the financial regulation relating to the budget cap limits classified as minor (the steps are: procedural infringement, minor infringement and major infraction).

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur returned on this matter during the press conference, reiterating that the penalty imposed on Red Bull was too light: “Red Bull did a great job, but I’m still convinced that the penalty was very light. You should consider the rate of development that we are doing this season – if you consider the fact that if you have a 10% ban it’s at the end, it’s not something linear. And then you can spend what you are saving in the wind tunnel, you can spend it somewhere else, on the weight saving and so on,” he added. “I’m not sure that the effect is mega if you consider that you had an advantage at the beginning of the season because you spend more the year before. I’m not saying Red Bull didn’t do a good job, I’m not looking for any excuses. However, if you ask me if the penalty was light, my answer is yes “, the words of the Ferrari boss.

George Russell’s suspicions
The Red Bull RB19 is dominating this start to the season – three wins, three pole positions, two fastest race laps and two second places – and George Russell is convinced that the Milton Keynes-based team is racing without showing its real potential to avoid attracting too much attention that could bring the car designed by Adrian Newey in the sights of the FIA. In Bahrain, in the final part of the race, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were running with a limited power unit in order not to end the race with even a bigger gap ahead of the competition, while in Australia it was possible for them to choose a conservative setting while obtaining the victory in the race without any problems.

An unparalleled DRS advantage
What is certain is that Red Bull has a phenomenal DRS, a feature recognized by Frederic Vasseur: “Red Bull has a mega DRS, stronger than anyone else, and we need to understand why. The straight-line deficit was probably even bigger last year, so we made up some of that gap, but we still need to work on it. Surely they are doing something different and they are doing it better than anyone” – the Ferrari boss concluded.

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