Max Verstappen says Red Bull "never really talk about" F1 budget cap penalty

08 February 2023 , 18:03

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Max Verstappen doesn't waste his time thinking about his team's cost cap punishment (Image: Seth Wenig/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

The punishment handed down to Red Bull for their overspend during the 2021 Formula 1 season is not something over which Max Verstappen loses too much sleep.

Red Bull were found to have committed a "minor" breach of the financial rules in the first year they were enforced. Last October, the FIA slapped them with a £6m fine and a 10% reduction in the amount of wind tunnel testing time they are allowed to do.

The fine, while not insignificant, is hardly going to break the bank for Red Bull. But the sporting penalty will have more of an impact as it directly limits how much work they can do to develop their cars in a 12-month period.

Team boss Christian Horner recently opened up on how it has affected their work in recent months. He explained : "We're probably 25% almost of the way through that penalty and, of course, it has an effect. It's limiting significantly, the amount of runs that we can do in our wind tunnel over each quarter.

"And I think that the team, they're having to adapt to that. And it just means you have to be a bit more focused, and more disciplined in what we put through the testing process within the tunnel or within our simulation tools.

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"So it's another challenge and it's a handicap for sure, coming into this year, but we've got very capable people that are looking to obviously extract the best that we possibly can and apply ourselves in the most efficient and effective way."

Christian Horner has explained the impact the budget cap penalty has had on Red Bull's development (PA)

While the restriction is having a clear impact on those designing and working on the car, the drivers seem to be unaffected by the penalty. That's the impression Verstappen gave when asked about it as he spoke to reporters, including Mirror Sport.

" I don't think it's hanging over us because we never really talk about it," the Dutchman said. "We just focus on what we're doing right now, putting everything on the car that we're developing – and to try to hit the ground running very well, have a better start than we had last year.

"From there on, we'll see. It's difficult to predict what will happen. Are we good enough? Quick enough? I don't know. We have to focus on ourselves, that's the only thing we can control. And then we'll find out where we end up."

Daniel Moxon