The Red Bull F1 team has accepted the punishment for its 2021 cost cap breach. Picture: AFP
It would appear the finale of the Red Bull F1 cost cap issue has at last been put to bed, following an agreement with the FIA’s Cost Cap Administration.
They offered Red Bull Racing an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) which has been accepted by the team. The result declares Red Bull Racing must pay a $7 million (about R128 million) fine to the FIA within 30 days of the ABA execution. And they must also accept a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing time during a period of 12 months from the same date of execution.
Hopefully we will now be able to get on with the sport and cease the constant accusations from some who, it appeared, wanted the Milton Keynes ensemble to be hung, drawn and quartered – in public.
The result of Sunday’s Mexican F1 Grand Prix certainly continued to throw down the gauntlet as Max Verstappen broke the record for the greatest number of wins in a season. But even more importantly, it demonstrated that he and team-mate Sergio Perez are very capable of good tyre conservation. Plus extremely rapid laps.
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One has to wonder how much effect that aerodynamic limitation will have. Recently the designs from the pen of Adrian Newey and team seem to have found a magical formula. Along with extremely capable engineers and two excellent drivers they have perhaps done enough work to ensure the 2023 Red Bull F1 car will be just as competitive.
The reason for the cost cap is understood, but there are some areas which make no sense in my book. Particularly in the drive for more teams on the grid.
It seems odd and somewhat of a reversal of logic to award the winners of the highly prized constructors title with large sums of money for a job well done. Only then to reduce the winners wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics time.
Why? To level the playing fields, but does it really?
Those teams fortunate enough to possess their own wind tunnel will probably also have employed the best possible engineers. After all you can run all the tests you wish, but there is the situation where you have personnel capable of translating the myriad of data from the computer into a solid structure that is able to demonstrate the outcome of such complex reams of calculations on track.
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This is not aimed at anyone or team in particular, as all of such ilk are highly intelligent and skilled people, but not everyone is imbued with those magical ingredients allowing some to seriously think out of the box. People such as Colin Chapman, John Barnard, Rory Byrne, John Cooper, Aldo Costa, Patrick Head and Gordon Murray are a few that spring to mind.
We should not stifle such thinkers, but actively encourage those who can take the sport to greater heights. Perhaps innovation without auditor should be the new mantra of the apical point of world motorsport.