Formula One governing body FIA has confirmed that, Red Bull Racing violated the cost cap for 2021 F1 season.

Red Bull Racing cross the limit of the $145m during 2021 F1 season, the FIA officially confirmed, adding that the violation was “minor”, the lower of the two categories of breach. As resulted Red Bull exceeded the threshold by less than 5%, or $7.25m.

The official statement released on Monday, FIA said that it had not yet concluded the sanctions that it will impose on Aston Martin and Red Bull for their separate violations.

“The FIA Cost Cap Administration is currently determining the appropriate course of action to be taken under the Financial Regulations with respect to Aston Martin and Red Bull and further information will be communicated in compliance with the Regulations.”

Red Bull’s reaction – Surprise and disappointment

“Our 2021 submission was below the cost-cap limit, so we need to carefully review the FIA’s findings, as our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost-cap amount. Red Bull said.

“Despite the conjecture and positioning of others, there is of course a process under the regulations with the FIA which we will respectfully follow while we consider all the options available to us.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner still claims they are within the cap

“We’re very confident we’re within the cap and within those financial regulations,” Horner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“So we’ve been shocked at the speculation and accusations that have been made by other teams. We wait for the FIA to conclude their process and we wait to see what comes out. Anything other than compliance we’ll be extremely surprised at.”

FIA’s complete statement on F1 budget cap

The FIA confirms that its Cost Cap Administration has now completed the review of the Reporting Documentation submitted by each Competitor that participated in the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship in respect of the 2021 Reporting Period ending on 31 December 2021.

The FIA Cost Cap Administration has issued certificates of compliance to seven of the ten Competitors:

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team is considered to be in Procedural Breach of the Financial Regulations;

Oracle Red Bull Racing is considered to be in Procedural and Minor Overspend Breaches of the Financial Regulations;

Williams Racing has complied with the Financial Regulations in respect of the 2021 Reporting Period with the exception of a previous Procedural Breach in regard to which the Cost Cap Administration entered into an ABA with Williams in May 2022. This Procedural Breach was then remediated by Williams in a timely, cooperative and transparent manner.

The review of the Reporting Documentation submitted has been an intensive and thorough process, and all Competitors gave their full support in providing the required information to assess their financial situation during this first year of the Financial Regulations. The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process.

The FIA would also note that with respect to this first year of the application of the Financial Regulations the intervention of the FIA Cost Cap Administration has been limited to reviewing the submissions made by the Competitors and that no full formal investigations were launched.

The FIA Cost Cap Administration is currently determining the appropriate course of action to be taken under the Financial Regulations with respect to Aston Martin and Red Bull and further information will be communicated in compliance with the Regulations.