“Thinking About How Many Sandwiches We Give People”: Mercedes Boss Makes Determined Statement to FIA Regarding Red Bull Violation

It seems the cost cap drama is growing with every passing day. As per the FIA, Red Bull was proven guilty of exceeding the 2021 budget cap set for all the teams. As the breach of the rules came to light, Mercedes man, Toto Wolff, spoke out.

Other than Mercedes, plenty of teams spoke up stating that the breach of the given budget is technically ‘cheating’ as it arguably gives the Austrian team an upper hand in their position in the season. Many reported that this was unfair to the other teams. However, Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, expressed his disappointment about the subject.

According to Christian Horner, it is rather unfair to label Red Bull for ‘cheating’ as it hurts their brand. He explains that to accuse someone of ‘fraudulent activity’ is rather surprising.

He said such accusations damage their sponsors, their drivers’ morale, and their overall workforce. Horner urges them to pay attention to mental health and how issues like such would drastically hurt the workforce.

Furthermore, he added, “We are getting kids that are employees’ children bullied in playgrounds. That’s not right through fictitious allegations from other teams.” 

To this, the long-time rival, Toto Wolff, accused Horner of playing the victim card. In a recent interview with Motorsport, Wolff said, “I almost had to wipe away a tear when I heard that.”

“The fact is that nine of the 10 teams have stayed under the budget cap. The fact is that one team is now claiming to have exceeded it with alleged problems that are not performance related, but these apply to us as well.”

In conclusion, he said, “We too have been thinking about how many sandwiches we give people and how to overcome various financial hurdles. Whether they’re over a million, two or five, it’s a financial advantage that can translate into development. So it’s a bit of reverse psychology: who is the victim here? I think it’s the nine teams.”

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Although the decision regarding the penalties was supposed to come out this weekend, there has now been a change of plans.

Red Bull cost cap penalty decision postponed

As the accusations against Red Bull were proven to be true as a ‘minor breach’, the FIA was still to confirm the penalties fitting for the situation.

The race this weekend for the US Grand Prix is taking place in Austin at the Circuit of Americas. This is where the FIA budget cap advisor and Red Bull were to communicate their further steps regarding the situation at hand.

However, with the unfortunate demise of the founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, this weekend, the decision has been put on hold.

The FIA and Red Bull have agreed to postpone any further action for a few more days.

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With the way things are unraveling this season, there are a lot of things that still remain uncertain. We’ll have to patiently wait until the FIA declares the penalties, in order to understand if that would affect the outcome of this season.