'Wind tunnel penalty' and winning championship could hurt Red Bull a lot

Because the FIA did not release anything for a very long time about the situation surrounding Red Bull Racing's exceeding of the budget cap, tempers ran high in the F1 world. The rival teams demanded tough action from the governing body and, above all, asked for clarity and decisiveness for the future. After all, breaching the budget cap could create major advantages over the competition.

'Wind tunnel penalty' could be painful for winning Red Bull

It has emerged that the FIA has proposed a penalty to Red Bull that would cut the team's time they are allowed to spend in the wind tunnel in preparation and development for next season by as much as 25 per cent. This has not yet been confirmed, but it is a conceivable penalty. Even if the percentage is lower, this penalty could still have far-reaching consequences for Red Bull.

Since it is almost certain that Red Bull will take the constructors' title this year, under the regulations, as champions, they will only be allowed to use 70 per cent of the time for next year. A deduction of another 25 per cent of the usual time would allow the team to use about half the time given to the teams at the back of the field. So the penalty could still have particularly severe consequences for the team. Red Bull will want to do everything possible to avoid incurring this penalty. Meanwhile, the F1 world is waiting to see if the overshoot can be dismissed as a procedural violation.

If reports are accurate and the FIA have considered a further 25% reduction in ATR (aerodynamic testing restriction) as a punishment for RBR, they would be operating at 45% on the scale for the first period (1 January to 30 June). pic.twitter.com/eO8Rm237iH

— Matthew Somerfield (@SomersF1) October 22, 2022