$7 Million Penalty Triggers Christian Horner to Take a Sarcastic Dig at FIA

Red Bull boss Christian Horner is at it again as he digs up an old issue from the 2022 season. He is making sure that everyone, including and especially the FIA, knows that he has no memory of a goldfish, with his most sly dig at them ahead of the maiden race weekend of this season in Bahrain. Only this time, the boss was in a good mood.

In a presser as part of his media duties, Horner has quipped over the $7 million penalty that was imposed on the team, in addition to the reduced wind tunnel time, for breaching the cost cap during Max Verstappen’s maiden title run in 2021. The attack this time, however, was just sarcastic but showed that he is still upset about the sentence because he feels it was unjust.

Christian Horner, as quoted by the Express, said in his comment, “It’s great to see the fine being applied so well. We’ve got a new couch and Tom [Clarkson, the press conference moderator] has got a new suit… it’s great to see the funding into the FIA being spent so effectively,” amidst the time when the governing body is already fighting a war on different fronts against F1 and the drivers over several other matters.

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Horner never likes to have his back against the wall. Given this statement, it means that he won’t budge against anyone, especially the authorities, to show his team’s prowess.

Christian Horner targets FIA over ban on political statements

Over the years, drivers have used the F1 track to raise awareness about social issues. But the recent ban by the FIA has ignited a whole new matter of debate, and Horner seems to be backing the drivers with caution.

In his statement criticizing the ban, as quoted by Autosport, Christian said, “I think it’s a matter of finding a balance, and in the world that we live in today, everybody has a voice, and that shouldn’t be suppressed. But of course, it does have to be done responsibly. So we don’t want a load of robots that are without opinion going racing, but like with all these things, there just has to be a sensible balance.”

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He said this while adding that freedom of speech is provided to Red Bull drivers, possibly hinting at other teams who might restrict their drivers from expressing their opinion to avoid waging a direct war this season. Nevertheless, his speaking up for the drivers is crucial and shows that his drivers have the freedom to participate in the drivers’ unity for better causes.