Marko not worried about 'harsh' penalty: 'It's just on the limit'

The FIA announced on the Friday before the Mexican Grand Prix that Red Bull Racing will receive a fine and a reduction in wind tunnel time for 2023 for exceeding the budget cap. Despite the heavy penalty, Helmut Marko believes his team will still be competitive in the coming years.

Red Bull will lose a lot of time in the wind tunnel next season. Max Verstappen's team gets to spend less time in the wind tunnel than its rivals anyway because of winning the constructors' title, but with the reduction for exceeding the budget cap, it will only be tougher. Still, Marko is not worried.

"The penalty is harsh, but just at the limit, that we believe that we can still be competitive in the following years, despite the wind tunnel restriction", the Austrian tells Sky Germany.

Marko names competitive disadvantage

According to Red Bull, no extra money went into developing the car in 2021, despite the breach. The team spent too much money on catering. "When you have catering costs, it‘s clear it did not go into the development of the car. There are costs included of 1 million of a employee who had a heart operation, and for us, she was not working."

Still, the ten per cent reduction in the wind tunnel will be a massive competitive disadvantage, Marko says. Red Bull's wind tunnel is quite old, according to the consultant, so the team cannot afford any more mistakes in the development of the car now. Red Bull is as motivated as ever to perform well in the new season.