Every word of Christian Horner's explosive defence of Red Bull in cost cap saga

Horner: Red Bull employees' kids being bullied over F1 cost cap allegations

• Horner claims breach was "a couple of hundred thousand dollars" and was due to "interpretation".
• Horner claims Red Bull did not have an advantage on-track due to the cost cap issue.
• Brown's complaint to FIA was "appalling", says Horner
• Red Bull remain in talks with FIA to resolve the issue.

“There is a concerted campaign for a draconian penalty for Red Bull [over] a couple of hundred thousand dollars.”

“We have been subjected to three weeks of abuse.

“It’s just not right. It has to stop.”

"I have confidence that there will be transparency."

“I can’t tell you that! Confidential.

“Once concluded there will be transparency and I will talk you through our submissions and the position we had.”

"This could be dragged out for months which is not our intention. We want closure.

“It is in the interests of everybody, the sport, to get this resolved as quickly as possible. There are many lessons that can be learned.”

“The cap is a rule, no more than the technical rules.

“My letter said: ‘If someone has…’

“No different if a ride-height is incorrect.

“It didn’t mention any teams. It was a general response.

“‘If someone breaches the cost cap, here are what we think the ramifications should be’.”

“It is tremendously disappointing for a competitor to accuse you of cheating and fraudulent.

“For a competitor, without the details, to accuse you of that?

“We’ve been on trial since Singapore. The rhetoric of cheats.

“The numbers in the media are miles away from reality.

“The damage this done to the brand, our drivers, our workforce? In an age where mental health is prevalence?

“We see kids bullied in playgrounds who are kids of our employees.

“You cannot make these allegations without fact or substance.

“We are appalled at the behaviour of some of our competitors.”

“Absolutely not. What are the relevant costs within the cap - this is where the interpretation comes from.

“Our view is that our relevant costs come within the cap.

“We are in talks with the FIA over mitigating circumstances.

“We had zero benefit from an operational perspective. 

“Our submission was below the cap. We expect things to be challenged or clarified.

“Based on third-party accounting, the interpretation of the 52-page document was clear from our side.

“We absolutely do not feel that we had any advantage in 2021 or 2022. It is totally fictitious.”

“We made an interim submission in 2021 - there was no feedback that we were doing anything that was contrary to regulations.

“The submission in March, we didn’t back from until September which is significant time.

“There is a duty in FIA regulations to guide, to have effective compliance.”

“Because all the teams have opinions. Some speak, others do not bring forward their views.

“I thought it was important for transparency.

“There are times we speak openly and times there is back-channelling.

“We never spoke about the potential consequences. Like all the teams do, we suggested some solutions for the FIA.

“It is very important for the future of the sport. It is complicated and new.

“None of us know any details. We need to wait for the FIA and Red Bull to conclude.”

“We are in a process with the FIA. We hope to get closure on that. At that point, all facts will be laid on the table and we can talk openly about the cap, and about why we feel our costs were fully in line.

“They are diligently trying to do their job. Hopefully in the near future we will have a resolution.

“It is a new process. Remember, with these regulations, they were introduced at a level of $170m reduced by $30m in the pandemic. They are complicated regulations. 2021 was the first-ever year of a set of complicated financial regulations that have varying interpretations.

“I hope we can conclude this in the near future.”

"If we are able to convert this it will be an outstanding achievement for the team. If you believe in something, anything is possible. There were times that it looked like there was no hope of challenging the dominance of recent years but we have turned it around."

"We need an American driver, and a successful one. Not just Brad Pitt!

"We will see more American talent emerging."

"The superlicense is another topic that we need to look at..."

"On the condition that he gets enough superlicence points he will become our second driver next year."

Christian Horner is arriving now...

• Horner will address Red Bull's guilt of breaking the F1 cost cap for the first time.
• Brown, who wrote a letter to the FIA complaining about Red Bull, will sit beside Horner.
• Has a resolution to this saga been found yet?

The FIA have offered Red Bull an Accepted Breach Agreement.

• Red Bull could accept it, and accept that they broke rules.
• Or they can contest it.

Red Bull and the FIA are no closer to resolving the issue after a meeting on Friday.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is unwell so not at the track today, and therefore not in the press conference at 5.30 UK.

Jost Capito will replace him.

But all eyes will be on Christian Horner vs Zak Brown!

• Staff gardening leave and sick pay

• Catering costs

• Spare parts

• Tax

A breakdown of how Red Bull reportedly went from $4m within the cost cap to $1.8m above it.

The McLaren CEO wrote a letter to the FIA complaining about Red Bull’s breach.

"The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations,” an extract from the letter read.

“Is it a so-called minor breach, because I think the word is probably not correct?

“If you’re spending $5m more, and you’re still in the minor breach, it still has a big impact on the championship.

“To give you an idea, we obviously monitor closely which parts are being brought to the track from the top teams every single race – for the 2021 season and the 2022 season.

“We can see that there are two top teams that are just about the same and there is another team that spends more.

“We know exactly that we’re spending – $3.5m a year in parts that we bring to the car. So then you can see what difference it makes to spend another $500,000.”

"It's happened in the past for me. I would say I'd moved on from last year, and of course this popping up at this point in the season definitely brings up emotion for many people, the fans, for everyone.

"For how it went down at the end of last year and then on top of that, this happened.”

Everything you need to know about the F1 cost cap - why it was introduced, how much the budget is, what to expect in 2023...