The Singapore Grand Prix came with the rumours that Red Bull and Aston Martin had breached the 2021 cost cap, and with Max Verstappen winning that year’s championship on the final lap of the last race, the legitimacy of the Dutchman’s victory was called into question.
It was initially rumoured that Verstappen could have been stripped of his maiden title, however after the FIA announced that Red Bull’s breach of the cost cap was ‘minor’, the team were slapped with a $7m fine and saw their wind tunnel testing time for 2023 reduced by ten percent.
Team principal Christian Horner has previously labelled the punishment as ‘draconian’ and suggested that the sporting penalty could cost the team up to half a seconds’ worth of lap time when developing their 2023 car.
Chief technical officer Adrian Newey, who is responsible for every championship winning car ever designed by Red Bull, has taken a different view however and has claimed that the team will not be affected by the reduction in testing time as much as Horner has made out.
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“The reduction of wind tunnel testing means we can therefore evaluate less different components, less different ideas,” he explained.
“If we’re really smart an always put on the right things, on the model, then of course it doesn’t make much difference.”
With Ferrari under new leadership in the form of Fred Vasseur and Mercedes keen to make amends for their poor start to the new era of F1, Red Bull will be hoping that Newey is correct and that they see little hinderance from their penalty.
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The energy drink giants were already set to receive the least amount of testing time in 2023, as the allocation is distributed based on the finishing order of the constructors’ championship, meaning third-placed Mercedes especially will have a significant advantage over Red Bull going into next season.
The RB18 was one of Newey’s best designs yet, taking his constructors’ championship winning cars total to an astounding 11, coming with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull over the last 30 years.
Some have called for Red Bull to be punished more harshly for their breach of the cost cap, as it is believed that should the team not feel the effects of their punishment next year, other teams will not be deterred from breaching the cap in the future.