F1 News
Red Bull breathe a sigh of relief: Cost cap penalty has expired
It's over. This Thursday, Red Bull Racing was freed from the penalty for exceeding the cost cap. The penalty expired on 26 October and so the Austrian team return to their full allowence of wind tunnel time based on their performance in the World Championship.
Red Bull received both a financial and a sporting penalty a year ago because of the cost cap breach. First of all, there was the fine amounting to seven million dollars - which, incidentally, would not fall under the cost cap for the current season - which hit the Austrians directly in the wallet. Much more troublesome was the penalty that affected the time the team was allowed to spend in the wind tunnel.
How much time in the wind tunnel did Red Bull have?
For 12 months, Red Bull had a 10% wind tunnel reaction time from their already reduced allowance. As champions, the Austrians were already at a disadvantage, as it was agreed that the winner among the constructors would get 70% of the time allotted. The 10% reduction went off proportionally from the time Red Bull had, so their development time sat at 63%.
The table below indicates the development time as things stood when the penalty was first applied in October 2022. The order was swapped and locked in again after the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix based on the championship standings at that point.
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Mercedes were allowed to spend 75% in the second half of 2023 because they were second in the World Championship after the Canadian Grand Prix. Ferrari had 80% of the time because they were then in third. In short, relative to the direct competition, that was a big difference for Red Bull. Especially with a view to developing the car for '24, Red Bull's bosses will be happy that the implementation of the penalty is (almost) over.
