The cost cap breach by Red Bull has been the talk of the town so far, even though Max Verstappen won his 2nd championship this past weekend. Mercedes and Ferrari have demanded strong action against the Milton Keynes-based constructors for breaching the budget cap. Red Bull was found guilty of a ‘minor’ breach of F1’s cost cap.

The Silver Arrows’ boss has been pretty vocal about punishing the guilty parties. In his latest blog, Joe Saward shares how the cost cap has affected Mercedes. Additionally, he also shares why Mercedes is pushing for strict punishment for Red Bull.

The financial returns for Mercedes AMG Petronas showed that revenue figures rose from $396 million to $433 million. This included the F1 “prize money” and additional sponsorships. Saward wrote, “The team dropped its spending from $362 million to just under $334 million, reflecting the new budget cap rules despite an increase in the number of races.”

“This meant that the design and engineering staff had to drop from 906 to 831 as the team sought to be more efficient. Some were redeployed in other parts of the empire, some took early retirement, I believe.”

He further said, “This meant that not only did Mercedes not have to put any money into the team, which makes it a slam dunk to keep going because of the value F1 brings (internally and externally) for the team. It also meant that the team made a profit of $76 million, a big hike.”

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This means Mercedes’ profit exceeded the salaries of sporting titans like Lewis Hamilton ($57 million), Tom Brady (31.9 million) & LeBron James (41.2 million) according to reports.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is willing to break FIA rules if RBR is not punished fairly

Toto Wolff is one of the most influential personalities in F1. The Austrian team principal of Mercedes F1 is the richest team principal in the paddock. Furthermore, he is not afraid of breaching the budget cap himself if Red Bull is not punished fairly. Toto Wolff is ready to pay any subsequent fines in order to get back to the top.

According to Corriere dello Sport, via FormulaPassion, Mercedes personnel are already in discussion and planning a hefty budget for the upcoming year. Lewis Hamilton believes that he and Mercedes would have won the title had they also breached the budget cap.

Max Verstappen won the F1 crown in the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP. Red Bull has since defended their stance. However, it does not look good for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit as the big teams are in protest.

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It has indeed been a controversial week for Red Bull after being found guilty of overspending. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how the FIA punishes them. What is the best punishment for Red Bull according to you?