Christian Horner reiterated that teams will not be able to stay below the current cost cap due to rising inflation; “We don’t want a championship decided by the courts,” Red Bull team principal told Sky Sports F1 exclusively at Canadian GP
By Matt Morlidge
Last update: 06/23/22 7:14 p.m.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has questioned the FIA’s plans to tackle the porpoising that has plagued cars this season and also called on F1’s governing body to raise the cost cap.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has questioned the FIA’s plans to tackle the porpoising that has plagued cars this season and also called on F1’s governing body to raise the cost cap.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner fears the F1 title fight could end in court if the FIA does not raise the sport’s annual cost cap, which he says has also put it at risk hundreds of jobs amid rising global inflation.
All F1 teams have a cost cap of $140m (£119m) for 2022, but a dramatic rise in inflation has led many teams – leaders Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes most publicly – to claim that it will be impossible to follow the rules.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 during the Canadian GP, Horner reiterated his concerns and called on F1’s governing body to act now.
“How you design your car is in your control,” said Horner. “It’s something that you, with your group of designers, create. You control your own destiny.
“What we are seeing in the world right now, we have no control over the inflationary costs that are affecting households around the world. In the UK, we see inflation forecast at 11%.
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“It’s a direct effect on the personnel, on the raw materials, on the electricity, on the commodities, on the parts supplied. I think this is truly a force majeure situation to which the FIA must cope.”
The FIA has yet to give any guidance on raising the cap, and several teams have said they are still on track to stay under the $140 million limit. But Horner said “there’s probably about 50% of the teams going through the cap at the end of the year if it continues like this. Probably even more.”
This could lead to penalties, and Horner, whose Red Bull team leads both championships, added: “We don’t want a championship decided in court, or in Paris before the FIA.
“We have six months of the year to solve this problem, we must act now.”
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Horner also pointed to the risk of jobs and the complete abandonment of the cost cap.
“I think the best teams would have to get rid of about two to three hundred people each to be able to deal with it,” he said. “Is it correct?
“The problem is that if the cost cap fails badly, it will be gone forever.
“We have to find a solution to this problem. Nobody could have predicted that. We lowered the cost cap by $35 million during the pandemic, and nobody could have predicted the problems we have.”
F1 2022 heads to Silverstone for motorsport’s big event of the summer. Join Sky Sports F1 for extensive coverage throughout the British GP weekend – racing starts at 2pm on Sunday 3rd July.
