This is how much Red Bull's crashes contributed to budget overspend in 2021

Days after Max Verstappen's second world title, already nobody seems to be talking about it anymore. The talk of the day is Red Bull Racing's financial breach, which according to the latest reports would amount to one to two million dollars. At the same time, discussion also arises about the fact that damage caused by others falls under the budget cap. How much did Red Bull lose from crashes in the 2021 Formula 1 season, and what damage was the team itself responsible for?

Verstappen crashes

The first serious crash for Verstappen occurred in Baku. The Dutchman was driving proudly in the lead, but with five laps to go he suffered a blowout and went hard into the wall. A hefty cost through no fault of Verstappen's, but apart from Pirelli, no one else could be blamed.

That is different for the British Grand Prix. Verstappen experienced the worst crash of his career but got away with it. The same was not true for his Red Bull car, which could pretty much be written off. Lewis Hamilton was identified as the culprit by the FIA and given a 10-second time penalty.

Verstappen also sustained damage through no fault of his own in the Hungary GP, albeit a lot less serious. This time it was the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas that was responsible for the damage to several drivers after he dived into the first corner a little too enthusiastically on the damp Hungaroring. Bottas was held responsible for the incident, but could not be penalised as he had also knocked himself out. It landed him a five-place grid penalty at the next race in Belgium.

At the Italian GP in Monza, Verstappen got into another tussle with a Mercedes driver. Hamilton came out of the pits and saw Verstappen approaching, after the Dutchman had dropped back due to a slow pit stop. Neither allowed the other even an inch of space, after which the bantams ended up on top of each other in the gravel pit. As Hamilton was ahead of his rival on entering the corner, the FIA ruled that Verstappen should have allowed him space. The Red Bull driver was singled out as the main culprit for the incident and handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Russia.

The last serious crash for Verstappen came in Saudi Arabia. While he was heading hard for a pole time on his final flying lap, things went wrong at the final corner and he crashed hard into the wall. In total, Red Bull lost over three million euros over the whole season in damage to Verstappen's car, according to Sky Sports Germany.

Damage from Silverstone crash amounted to $1.8 million

Almost half of that amount went on the damage Verstappen sustained in his crash at Silverstone, team boss Christian Horner revealed. The Briton stated at the time that the crash had "massive ramifications" given the budget cap introduced that year. The damage amounted to $1.8 million, as reported by Reuters.

Perez crashes

Sergio Perez kept it below a million euros and with that, he contributed a lot less to Red Bull's bill. The first crash for the Mexican took place in Hungary, where he and his teammate were driven off the track by Bottas. Perez was unable to continue his race and his car was significantly damaged.

In Belgium, Perez was himself responsible for the damage sustained. On a wet Spa-Francorchamps, he crashed en route to the starting grid and caused suspension damage. Despite the lengthy flag, Red Bull failed to repair the damage before the 'race' started for two laps behind the safety car.

Saudi Arabia was followed by the third and final major cost to Perez's bolide. The Mexican got caught up in the midfield chaos, hitting Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and crashing into the wall.

Did Red Bull go over budget due to crashes by others?

According to latest reports, Red Bull's budget overrun is said to be around one to two million dollars. The question, then, is what role in this was played by crashes caused by others. To a certain extent, an F1 team should of course take that risk into account, but in the case of a crash where the FIA has identified another party as the culprit, one has to wonder to what extent these costs should fall under the budget ceiling.