Red Bull boss Christian Horner is confident his team did not break Formula One’s budget cap last year.
Horner was furious over accusations, ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, that Red Bull breached last year’s $145 million cap, which would lead to sanctions against his team if true.
On Wednesday, the FIA will issue certificates of compliance to teams who spent within the rules last year.
When asked if he was nervous about whether Red Bull would receive one, Horner replied: “No, I mean, I’m absolutely confident in our submission. It’s been through a process. It went in in March, in terms of [being] signed off fully by our auditors who are obviously one of the big three. And we believe that we are comfortably within the cap.
“So the FIA are following their process. We expect hopefully, and potentially this week, to hear not just us, but all of the teams, the outcome of that process.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said a budget cap breach would be a “heavyweight” issue for F1, adding that he believed one team had overspent in a significant way.
Horner reiterated Red Bull’s threat of legal action against anyone insinuating they’ve broken the cap, pointing out that teams should not be aware of their rivals financial audits.
“What I said absolutely stands,” Horner said. “We will consider all of our options. And it’s totally unacceptable to make a completely unfounded allegation. And on the basis of what knowledge? Where is the source of information?
“This is a confidential submission between the team and the FIA. I have no idea of the compliance of any of our rivals. So where does that information supposedly come from?”
Horner believes the budget cap will become easier for the FIA to audit and oversee after the first few years, pointing out that lots of grey areas remain in the regulations as they are currently written.
“These are a brand new set of regulations that are highly complicated, and that apply to companies of different structures, different formulations, and of course, regulations,” he said.
“There’s always different interpretations to those regulations. So in the first year, it will be very interesting to see how that is applied.
“We’ve seen clarifications, even since the submissions were made, that apply to last year. So it’s always going to be a process of evolution.”
Source: www.espn.com