"Our submission was below the cap"- Christian Horner quashes rumors of Red Bull exceeding budget cap last F1 season

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Practice
Red Bull boss quashed rumors of the team exceeding budget cap (Image via Red Bull Content Pool)

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has denied rumors of the team exceeding the budget cap for the 2021 F1 season. Multiple publications have reported on paddock rumors that two teams have crossed the threshold budget cap for the 2021 F1 season. The teams involved were Aston Martin and Red Bull. When questioned by SkyF1 about these rumors, Christian Horner said that he wasn't aware of any such thing.

The Red Bull team principal further revealed that the accounts were submitted to the FIA in March. According to Horner, the submission from the team was below the cap and now it was down to the FIA to follow their processes. He said,

“Certainly, not aware of any. The accounts are all submitted way back in March. It's been a long process going through it with the FIA. They are rightly following that process and mid-next week is when they declare their certificates. Our submission was below the cap. It's down to the FIA to follow their processes.”

Horner did concede that since this is just the start of a completely new era in F1, there are going to be some subjective interpretations from the individual teams as well. Having said that, Horner was confident in the team's submission. He said,

"It's a brand new set of regulations and a complicated set of regulations. So, how rules are interpreted and applied is going to be subjective between the teams. As the years go by things will get cleared up, but we are confident in our submission [of the accounts].”

Paddock rumors reveal Red Bull guilty of overshooting the cost cap threshold

In multiple reports issued earlier in the day, publications like AMuS and La Gazzetta Dello Sport had said that Red Bull and Aston Martin had not met the budget gap in the 2021 F1 season. The report said,

"The paddock radio reports that in the first year of the cost cap, two teams exceeded the limit of $148.6 million. One of them on a large scale. In the paddock there are rumors that it should be Red Bull and Aston Martin. The FIA is in a bind. It is obliged to make any transgressions public."

The report continued,

"Exceeding the budget cap is a breach of the rules, like an underweight car or too much gas flow. Supposedly, the result should have been communicated long ago, but one of the two cases could cause an earthquake in the paddock."

With Christian Horner refuting any such suggestion, it is going to be an agonizing wait until the FIA issues the certificates next week.

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Edited by Babylona Bora