Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has warned the 2022 world championships could be decided in the FIA Court of Appeal if the ongoing row over the budget cap isn’t resolved.
A sharp rise in inflation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has led Horner and other team bosses to warn they will have to make severe cuts in order to keep their spending within the $140 million (£110.8m) cap imposed for this year. The limit includes certain allowances and adjustments.
While a majority of teams are believed to be in favour of easing the spending restrictions, any change in the rules is being blocked by some of their rivals with smaller budgets.
“Obviously there’s a couple of teams [against] and the voting process for the in-season changes in the budget cap obviously requires a certain threshold which currently there isn’t,” Horner acknowledged.
He called on the FIA to take action and impose new measures to help teams which are struggling to keep their spending within the limits.
“You’ve got to look at the bigger picture. Is this a force majeure event? I would say an act of war that is driving up the inflation would be classified as a force majeure event.”
He is concerned the outcome of the championship could be thrown in doubt if teams protest rivals for over-spending at the end of the year.
“What we really want is clarity, because none of us want to end up at the end of the season all rushing to courts of appeal in Paris saying ‘he spent a million dollars more than we did’ and so on. So I think we’ve just got to come to a sensible threshold.”
Horner previously same some teams would have to miss races if the limit was not adjusted. “What I was trying to point out last weekend when I was asked the question was it would be the equivalent of we would have to miss numerous races to get anywhere near getting costs under the cap,” he said. “I think everybody, certainly…