'Light penalty' for Red Bull Racing: 'This won't hurt them'

Guenther Steiner thinks Red Bull Racing's punishment for exceeding the budget cap is too light. Speaking to German RTL he discusses his solution.

Red Bull Racing exceeded the budget cap in 2021 and, for that, will get ten per cent less time in the wind tunnel in 2023 and a fine of seven million dollars. A hefty penalty, Red Bull itself judges, but Steiner disagrees. The Haas team boss believes the penalty will not hurt Red Bull much.

''Seven million dollars is a lot of money. But it doesn't hurt them,'' Steiner said. The Italian would have preferred that this fine had also been a reduction in Red Bull's budget cap for 2023, but that is not the case. According to Steiner, it therefore does not hurt Red Bull, as they have that money left anyway since the cap.

Steiner does think the restriction in the win tunnel is a good punishment though he also thinks Red Bull has enough quality in house to compensate for that. Compared to Haas, perhaps, but Ferrari and Mercedes should normally benefit from it, of course.