Almost a year after the 2021 season finale, the world association FIA ??imposes a penalty on Red Bull. The Formula 1 racing team violated the cost limit. While the Austrians complain about lobbying by other teams, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff lets his anger run free.

Red Bull’s opponents are only partially satisfied with the penalties against the world champion team for violating the Formula 1 cost limit last year. “In general, it’s good to see that there’s a penalty, whether we think it’s too low or too high,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports. On the specialist portal “motorsport.com”, the 50-year-old added: “And I think it’s like any penalty: for us it’s too little, for you (editor’s note: Red Bull) it’s too much.”

The racing team of two-time world champion Max Verstappen was fined by the International Automobile Federation FIA with a payment of seven million US dollars and a ten percent restriction on the use of aerodynamic tests. Team boss Christian Horner had spoken of a “draconian penalty”, especially in view of the shorter time in the wind tunnel. Among other things, he had accused the pursuers of lobbying so that Red Bull would be severely sanctioned. “To speak of draconian is an exaggeration,” countered Mercedes racing engineer Andrew Shovlin at a press conference in Mexico City.

The fact is, however, that according to the FIA ??investigations, only Red Bull spent more money than allowed and it wasn’t just procedural errors. The equivalent of around 2.15 million euros, Red Bull was therefore above the 148.6 million that were allowed in 2021. However, Horner and the FIA ??also pointed out that this sum was favored by a procedural error, otherwise it would have been around 500,000 US dollars.

“Nine teams followed the rules and stayed below the upper limit,” emphasized Wolff: “Formula 1 is a sport in which little things make the difference. If something else is claimed, that’s stupid talk.” There is no mitigating factor, emphasized the Mercedes team boss.

At Ferrari, they fear that Red Bull will simply invest the money that is freed up there by the less time in the wind tunnel and in the computer simulations elsewhere. “We think the penalty is too low,” stressed Ferrari’s sports director Laurent Mekies. “All in all, we believe that the impact of the penalty will be very small.”