Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that the cost cap penalty the team received last year is already affecting car development
Last year the Milton Keynes squad were found guilty of exceeding the cost cap by 1.6% in 2021. They were handed a $7m fine plus a 10% reduction in CFD and wind tunnel time, which Horner believes is already hurting the team’s development.
Red Bull having to be extra efficient
According to The RACER Horner said: “We’re probably 25% almost of the way through that penalty, and of course it has an effect.
“It’s limiting significantly, the amount of runs that we can do in our wind tunnel over each quarter. And I think that the team are having to adapt to that, and it just means you have to be more focused and more disciplined in what we put through the testing process within the tunnel or within our simulation tools.
“So, it’s another challenge and it’s a handicap for sure, coming into this year, but we’ve got very capable people that are looking to extract the best that we possibly can and apply ourselves in the most efficient and effective way.”
After the penalty Red Bull have 63% wind tunnel and CFD time, compared to their nearest rivals Ferrari who have 75% and Mercedes who have 80%. This will affect them, especially later in the season when the team must decide how much development to share between its current car and next year’s car.
It will require the squad to be as efficient as possible with what pieces they decide to put on the car for aerodynamic testing, and it is likely the team will still be hit by the penalty in 2024 – especially if they become embroiled in a close title battle.
Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey said late last year according to The RACER that the penalty will have an effect: “There’s no testing, so it’s very difficult to put an answer that will cost us so many tenths of a second per lap.”
“And the reduction of internal testing means we can therefore evaluate less – less different components, less different ideas.
“If we’re really smart and always put the right things on the model, then it doesn’t make much difference.
“But that’s not how it works; there are always some parts that you hope will work and don’t and vice versa.
“So, it’s difficult. It’s a restriction that’s for sure”
Newey also spoke about how the technical changes for 2023 will affect the team: “I think then there’s the regulation, a small regulation change over the winter, which is lifting the floor by 50 millimetres – which of course sounds tiny in reality, it’s quite a significant aerodynamic change.
“So, like all teams we’re working to reduce the deficit from that in addition to the normal development that goes on from year to year.”
Horner supportive of cost cap
When it was announced last year, Horner called the punishment ‘draconian’ however, he believes the cost cap is “great” but, several areas still need to be addressed.
He said: “I think the principle of it is great and it’s driven by efficiency. If I look at the business now, compared to where it was four or five years ago, we’d have ended up with a lot of stock of spare parts that were brand new that had never been used, and then they’re just scrap.
“And so now you just can’t afford to have that. You’ve got to be so effective and efficient.
“So, I think from that point of view, it has driven great efficiency into the business. It’s got rid of that wastage that was there that nobody saw previously.
“I think that the regulations are still very immature, they’re only in their second year. So, they’re still evolving, and being tuned and as they’re being introduced into the power unit side of the business as well – I think principally, it is a good thing for Formula 1, and it does create a more level playing field – I think there’s certain elements that still need to be to be tuned.
“At the moment, we’re seeing a discrepancy between chassis financial regs and engine financial regs: on the chassis side, they can have a Christmas party, on the power unit side, they can’t! So, there’s certain things that I think need balancing up so there is a consistency across those caps. But I think on the whole, it’s a very positive thing.
“I think that perhaps there is still too much weight put upon them in that we’re still designing very expensive engines and very expensive cars, because the technical regs drive you towards that.
“And I think the technical and sporting regs, I think particularly on the chassis for 2026, we need to look more at the cost drivers which are driven through those technical regs, which will then in turn put less pressure on the budget cap itself.”
Red Bull will reveal their 2023 car livery in New York on Friday.