Red Bull Racing offered reduced penalties if they admit to breaching F1 cost cap

Red Bull Racing may be offered a reduced punishment if they admit to breaching F1’s budget cap for 2021, or face a harsher penalty, it is understood.

The Tilbrook team were found to have gone over the $145m budget put in place last season en route to winning an already controversial driver’s world championship with Max Verstappen.

Red Bull, along with Aston Martin, were found to have incurred ‘minor’ breaches of the budget cap, meaning they were less than five per cent over the allowed spend. The team put out a statement last week claiming they felt their budget submitted came in under the cap, though it overshadowed Verstappen’s second title win at the Japanese Grand Prix.

McLaren team boss Zak Brown said any breach of the cost cap ‘constitutes cheating’ earlier this week.

Reports from Sky Sports F1 are now claiming the sport’s governing body the FIA have afforded Red Bull the opportunity to admit to overspending, or they could face harsher penalties. Sky Sports claim an acepted breach agreement (ABA) would mean a financial penalty and ‘minor sporting penalties’ and, crucially, no points deductions or a reduction in future budget caps, which many other teams have called for.

Red Bull had planned to host a press conference regarding the cost cap breach but have since suspended it ahead of further meetings with the FIA.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet but as a team we know what we have to deal with and we are very clear with what we think is correct,” said Verstappen when facing the media ahead of this weekend’s US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

“I think it’s mainly because we’re doing well. They try to slow us down in any way possible. That’s how Formula 1 works... everyone is at the end of the day a bit hypocritical.

“We just have to focus on our job.”