Red Bull and Mercedes really got at each other’s throats in 2021. That being said, the political rivalry between the two goes back a long time. Back in 2015, Red Bull tried playing the game by urging the FIA to step in to curb Mercedes’ dominance. But Lewis Hamilton was quick to shoot this down.

In 2015, Mercedes was running away with it all, as was the norm. This was when Red Bull boss Christian Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko attempted to publicly strong-arm the FIA into delving into the regulations to slow the Silver Arrows down.

After Mercedes’ easy 1-2 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix win, Horner said, “Interest will wane. Mercedes have done a super job, but the gap is too big. The FIA could quite easily come up with a way of a form of equalization.”

In reply to this, Hamilton said, “People say it’s all the car, well, it’s a big team that built this car for this performance. I’m the one who has to get in and extract the best from it. There has never been a driver that has won the championship that hasn’t had a great car that year, as far as I’m aware. There’s no one who had a Marussia and won the world championship, is there?”

“[Juan Manuel] Fangio still had a great car. It’s the name of the game. You’ve got to have great equipment as well.”

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Well, it’s 2022 now, and even 7 years later, the war of words between the two teams has not settled down.

Lewis Hamilton in with a chance in 2023 as Toto Wolff predicts Red Bull’s downfall

Red Bull was penalized by the FIA for their minor overspend of the 2021 cost cap. It resulted in them getting a 10% reduction in their aero-testing time as well as a $7M fine. But what does this translate in terms of the performance loss on track next year? Well, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff seems to know it all.

While talking to Speedweek.com, Wolff said, “We offer the same social benefits, from canteen to maternity leave, insurance and so on, which are far above the usual norm. If you have two million more, you spend it on technology. We had the last technical update at Silverstone this year, Red Bull Racing had four after that.” 

And when asked about the FIA’s penalty could affect the Bulls, he said, “We think one to two-tenths of a second per lap, above the season average.”

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Has the FIA’s penalty really disadvantaged Red Bull? If so, can Mercedes capitalize on this in 2023?