Wolff happy with indirect penalty for Red Bull: 'Nobody dares to do that now'

Toto Wolff believes Red Bull Racing has been punished enough for exceeding the budget cap. Above all, the image damage suffered should deter other teams.

Red Bull Racing has exceeded the budget cap in 2021 and when this came out, it caused a lot of commotion. According to the competition, the penalty could not be big enough. Red Bull was eventually fined seven million dollars and allowed to spend 10 per cent less time in the wind tunnel. Wolff, however, sees the biggest penalty on another front.

Penalty for Red Bull

''I think the biggest penalty was not the 10% wind tunnel time [reduction] or the 7 million dollars. I think the biggest penalty was the reputational hit that the team got and in a way it's unfair for the Red Bull mother brand which is fantastic in their field. But the racing team has just been having such a reputational hit and also the people. So I think nobody is kind of dare bringing it close to that anymore,'' Wolff said in conversation with SwiatWyscigow.pl.

Mercedes hopes to capitalise on the damage suffered by Red Bull Racing in 2023, as in 2022 the German brand did not come close to beating the Austrians. Mercedes won only one race and finished third among constructors. With more time in the wind tunnel and CFD, it hopes to catch up with Max Verstappen 's team next year.