“Did You Overspend On This Also?”: Max Verstappen Receives Backlash for His New Golden Armor

Amid Red Bull’s cost cap breach scandal, unstoppable Max Verstappen steered straight to his second Driver’s Championship title. And soon after, Red Bull won the Constructor’s Championship at the US Grand Prix last weekend. And to celebrate their double victory, Max Verstappen unveiled Red Bull’s new helmet design for the rest of the 2022 season.

Red Bull‘s new helmet comes with a golden sheen for their golden boy. The helmet exhibited by Verstappen is gold in color with white streaks as highlights. It is shiny, sleek, and resplendent like a golden crown to honor their supremacy as the new kings of the paddock.

However, F1 fans have not forgotten about the cost cap drama and are still smarting over it. In the wake of it, where Red Bull was fined and penalized mere hours ago, fans had a field day trolling the sheer ostentatiousness of the helmet.

Max Verstappen had earlier worn golden shoes specially designed by Puma in tribute to his 2021 championship title. The golden helmet now only added insult to injury after the overspending drama by Red Bull.

While some fans didn’t like the audacity of Max Verstappen and Red Bull at all, others applauded the hilarity of the timing of the unveiling, which was right after the announcement of their cost cap penalty.

But for the most part, even those who love the new helmet seem taken aback by Red Bull’s lack of self-awareness. They are either responding with shock and disgust or surprise and amusement.

READ MORE: Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen Brushes Off Red Bull’s Budget Cap Criticism With a Subtle Dig at Lewis Hamilton And Co.

Is it lack of self-awareness that led to their ironically timed unveiling? Or was it a calculated acceptance of their situation to poke fun at it themselves?

Max Verstappen will retain his 2021 title as per FIA

Meanwhile, the very budget cap breach that caused the drama was finally resolved by the FIA mere hours before. The FIA confirmed the breach to be at about $2.2 million.

Other F1 teams have been clamoring for action against the Red Bull team. However, the FIA finally reached an Accepted Breach Agreement with Red Bull that set down the terms for the penalty.

The FIA announced on Friday morning in Mexico that the Milton Keynes team was fined $7 million. Additionally, there would also be a 10% reduction to their wind tunnel time going into 2023.

As winners of the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull already have less wind tunnel time than their rivals. A further reduction of 10 percent leaves them with just 202 wind tunnel runs.

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Does this mean Red Bull will have a tougher time reigning the paddock next season? Or is the penalty a mere slap on the wrist? Either way, no one can deny that Max Verstappen is the World Champion not once, but twice in a row.