Max Verstappen on Red Bull's F1 cost-cap penalty: It is a heavy punishment for what we have done

Max Verstappen recently spoke about the cost cap penalty that Red Bull received from the FIA and termed it 'heavy punishment'.

In the 2021 F1 season, the Milton Keynes-based team overspent on their budget, leading to an FIA investigation. As a punishment, Red Bull have been penalized $7 million in fines and a 10% loss in wind tunnel time.

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Verstappen expressed his feelings regarding the cost cap breach punishment. The Dutchman spoke of the consequences his team will suffer in the 2023 F1 season, saying:

"Probably everyone is more motivated because of this. I personally think it is a heavy punishment for what we have done, but yes, what can we do about it? It happened and we will see next year what effect it really has had on us."

Since the team has the least amount of time for all the wind tunnel tests, the people working in the factory are quite displeased by it. Max Verstappen mentioned how the heads of the outfit and the drivers have apologized to the rest of the team several times. Stating that Red Bull need to be extremely careful about how they spend their budget next season, he said:

"Of course the people in the factory are still not happy about that and I have apologised many times, but it wasn't a real limitation, no matter how much work it was to get such a new part made. Now, however, we have to be more careful, for example in the free practice sessions, because it is no longer easy to say 'oh, we will put a new floor under it'."

Furthermore, the two-time world champion also talked about how other rival teams could give a strong fight for the championship next season. He knows how strong Ferrari and Mercedes can be, especially next season since Red Bull have a penalty.

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F1 CEO praises Max Verstappen's performance and dominance

In a recent interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Stefano Domenicali spoke about the 2022 F1 season and how Max Verstappen dominated the field. The F1 CEO mentioned how the new regulations successfully promoted closer racing and also praised the Dutchman for his sheer dominance. He said:

"With the current regulations, also on an economic level thanks to the budget cap, I expect that many teams will be closer together in this battle, and I expect that teams' winning cycles will be much shorter in duration. Not to take away from the quality of a driver like Verstappen. He is like a cannibal at the moment with full focus on every race."

Max Verstappen won his second drivers' championship in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, with four races still left in the season. He was the best of the rest, with 146 points ahead of the second driver, Charles Leclerc.