On Friday, the FIA confirmed that Red Bull had been fined $7m and docked 10% of its aero testing for the next 12 months, while Aston Martin was fined $450,000 for a procedural breach.
Seidl stressed that it was encouraging to see that the FIA’s process worked effectively, but he questioned the size of the penalties, and urged that future sanctions should be harsher.
“It’s mixed feelings to be honest,” he told Autosport. “I think on the positive side, it’s actually good that we have confirmation that the audit process the FIA has done with all the teams has been done in a very thorough and diligent way.
“And which in the end, also confirmed that one team was in breach. It’s positive as well, that actually a penalty has been applied, which hopefully, is in the end, good for the sport we’re in, because it hopefully discourages teams in the future to go in the red zone, independent of if it’s financial, sporting or technical regulations.
“But of course, from our point of view, if you look at the penalty, it just doesn’t fit the breach. So it’s not harsh enough. And we obviously hope that moving forward for similar breaches, the penalties are a lot harsher.”
Asked about the impact of the aero reduction he said: “Of course, 10% makes a difference on the development side. But again, if you compare it with the breach, it just doesn’t fit the breach.”
Seidl also downplayed Horner’s explanations of why Red Bull went over the cap, although he insisted that he hadn’t watched the Red Bull boss’s press conference.
“I didn’t watch it,” he said. “I didn’t like fairy tales as a kid. That’s why I wasn’t interested to listen to Christian’s press conference today!
“I think, as the findings of the FIA have confirmed for all 10 teams, in the end it’s a confirmation that the budget cap works.
“Nine teams managed to stay within the cap, and as far as I understand also managed to get close to the cap, which was the idea of the introduction of the budget cap.
“And therefore I guess, from my point of view, it will be completely wrong to blame room for interpretations or whatever what happened there.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who became embroiled in a war of words with Horner after writing a letter to the FIA calling for a strong punishment for Red Bull, echoed Seidl’s sentiments.
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
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