Verstappen on budget cap: 'Other teams did get that chance'

Before the news broke that Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz had died at the age of 78, the Formula 1 world was mostly preoccupied with the budget cap saga. Speaking to Viaplay, Max Verstappen reveals that he finds it strange how the situation went down.

Red Bull Racing was found guilty of slightly exceeding its 2021 budget cap after the Japanese Grand Prix. The team itself believes it stayed within the limit, but according to the FIA's report, Red Bull spent too much money. Christian Horner has been negotiating with the FIA all weekend in Austin about the punishment that will follow.

According to the latest rumours, Red Bull and the FIA have agreed on the penalty, but the announcement is being delayed for now due to Mateschitz's death. In an interview with Viaplay, Verstappen gave his opinion on the budget cap situation before qualifying for the US Grand Prix.

"I am not so worried about it. If something like this happens, of course other teams are all going to complain. They are obviously also trying to gain time for themselves. I think they can't take it so well that we just had it right. Even with that budget cap, it's not even about performance they think we did something. It's just about little things with certain employees, food, catering costs, all that kind of stuff", the Dutchman says.

Verstappen: 'Weird state of affairs'

"We think we stayed within the limit. Something might have been filled in wrong in a sheet as well. Other teams did get the chance to fill that in again, but we didn't get that chance. I think that's a strange state of affairs, but we just have to deal with that now", the Red Bull driver continues. We will probably hear more news about Red Bull's punishment sometime in the next few days.