Red Bull fined $7 million for overspending Formula One cost cap

Formula One's governing body ordered Red Bull to pay a $7 million fine and forfeit wind tunnel time as punishment for overspending the 2021 cost cap by $1.8 million during Max Verstappen's first championship season.

The penalties announced Friday at the Mexico City Grand Prix are unlikely to satisfy Red Bull rivals, many of whom called for harsh penalties ranging from stripping Verstappen of last year's title, a reduction in future Red Bull spending, and any punishment that would hurt the team competitively.

Red Bull has already wrapped up both a second F1 title with Verstappen and the constructors' championship with three races remaining this season.

"They are sore anyway, so it doesn't matter what you do," Verstappen said of those who called for his championship to be stripped.

Instead, the FIA and Red Bull came to terms on a monetary fine and a reduction of only 10% of its allotted time in the wind tunnel in 2023. Red Bull has 30 days to pay the $7 million fine.

The cost cap was put in place as a competition equalizer to prevent the larger, heavily-funded teams from outspending the smaller organizations struggling to keep up.

Rival team Mercedes has argued that a monetary penalty will only encourage others to also overspend and pay the fine as punishment. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown even wrote a letter to the FIA demanding stiff punishment for an offense he likened to cheating.

Brown said any team found guilty of overspending should be penalized that same amount and face an equal reduction the next season, and violating teams should suffer in competitive areas.

"The bottom line," Brown wrote, "is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development."

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