Red Bull set for ‘fine and aero restrictions' as F1 cost cap deal reached

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, an ‘Accepted Breach Agreement’ has finally been concluded between Red Bull and F1’s governing body and will be made public ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix. 

De Telegraaf reports that Red Bull will be hit with a fine and a reduction in aero testing “lower than 25 percent” heading into F1 2023.

The FIA announced on 10 October that Red Bull had committed a ‘minor breach’ of the $145m spending limit set during Max Verstappen’s title-winning 2021 campaign. 

An outcome was expected at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix but talks between Red Bull and the FIA were delayed following the death of Dietrich Mateschitz. 

Discussions between the two parties resumed this week ahead of the Mexico City race and Red Bull appears to have accepted the FIA’s terms for an ABA, which includes acknowledgement of wrongdoing and sanctions. 

Aston Martin are also understood to have agreed an ABA for a procedural breach, a less serious offence compared to Red Bull, who were the only team to have broken F1’s spending rules. 

Red Bull have called a press conference at 11.30am local time (5.30pm UK) to address the matter. 

What is a wind tunnel reduction? 

Regardless of any penalty, Red Bull would have only been allowed to use 70 percent of the aerodynamic tests in the wind tunnel for next season due to winning the 2022 constructors’ world championship. 

Red Bull are now set to be handed with an additional reduction as punishment for their overspend, but the previously reported figure of 25 percent has been denied by De Telegraaf. 

Such a penalty is considered a big hit to Red Bull as the team would have less time available in the wind tunnel to work on developments for their 2023 car. 

This includes a restriction on the number of wind tunnel testing runs and computation fluid dynamics (CFD) hours they can do to help gain crucial on-track performance. 

70 percent of wind tunnel time - for finishing first in the 2022 world constructors’ championship - will see Red Bull’s allocation drop to 28 runs per week before any further penalty is applied.