Christian Horner says his Oracle Red Bull Racing team remain in talks with the FIA about its alleged breach of the 2021 cost cap, and he maintains that their submission was below the $145 million budget allowed for last season.
Horner, the Team Principal at the Milton Keynes-backed team, maintains Red Bull are innocent of all charges and stayed underneath the budget, even though a FIA audit showed a potential breach of the cap, as well as a secondary procedural breach.
Speaking during the Team Principal meeting on Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas, Horner says that they are very clear on their side that they did not breach the $145 million budget, and any rumours about potential on-track benefits are ‘totally fictious’.
“We’re in discussion with the FIA about what those costs are and what are mitigating potential circumstances,” Horner is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “We had zero benefit from a development perspective or an operational perspective either for 2021 or 2022 from the way that we operated within the cap. Our submission was significantly below the cap.
“We expected certain things to be potentially challenged or clarified, as is the process in a brand-new set of regulations. But based on external, professional accounting third parties, the interpretation of those rules, of a 52-page document to police this, we were very clear from our side.
“So we absolutely and categorically don’t feel we had any advantage in 2021 or 2022 or ’23 or ’24, or some teams are even talking about ’26, is totally fictitious.”
Horner says it is frustrating to be accused from all sides of cheating ever since the FIA revealed they were in breach of the cost cap, especially from those in other teams that do not have any facts to back up their stances.
“We’ve been on trial because of public accusations since Singapore,” said Horner. “The numbers have been put out in the media that are miles out of reality. And the damage that does to the brand, to our partners, to our drivers, to our workforce, in an age where mental health is prevalent, we’re seeing significant issues within our workforce.
“We’re getting kids that are being bullied in playgrounds that are employees’ children, that is not right through fictitious allegations from other teams.
“You cannot go around just making that kind of allegation without any fact or substance. We absolutely are appalled at the behaviour of some of our competitors.”