AUSTIN, Texas — Red Bull and the FIA have put talks over the budget cap breach on hold following the death of company owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Mateschitz, co-founder and owner of the Red Bull brand and F1 team, died Saturday aged 78.
F1 will hold a tribute to the Austrian ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.
His Red Bull team had been in a stand-off with motor racing’s governing body this week over the 2021 budget cap.
The FIA ruled earlier this month that Red Bull had made a “minor” breach of the $145 million, believed to be around $1.8 million, although Red Bull maintains it did not intend to overspend and is disputing the way the FIA’s audit has accounted for certain items.
The penalty for the overspend is still unclear — there is no precedent as F1’s budget cap was introduced last year and the sanctions for “minor” (under five percent) and “major” (over five percent) are wide ranging.
It is understood the FIA has offered Red Bull what is known in the regulations as an agreed breach agreement (ABA), which is believed to include a financial penalty and a sporting penalty, but Red Bull is yet to accept that settlement.
On Sunday, Red Bull said: “Following the passing of Mr Mateschitz, all conversations with the FIA around Cost Cap and next steps are on hold until further notice. The deadline for agreement has been extended and we expect talks to pick back up middle of the week.”
It is believed the sporting penalty the FIA has offered will be a dramatic reduction of Red Bull’s windtunnel time for an upcoming season, which would significantly limit its ability to update a car over a season.
Retrospective penalties have always seemed unlikely, with some teams suggesting that only Mercedes and Ferrari would benefit from either stripping Verstappen of his 2021 championship or docking Red Bull of points from this year’s championship.
With rival teams united on the idea that it was impossible to overspend by accident, given the dialogue with the FIA throughout, a future penalty is seen as the best way of wiping out any advantage Red Bull may have gained from the overspend.
Red Bull could still take the case to an independent cost cap adjudication panel if it wants to appeal further, although this may result in harsher sanctions if unsuccessful.
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