22/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Red Bull boss, Christian Horner has hit back at Lewis Hamilton's claim that the team's punishment for exceeding the 2021 budget cap didn't go far enough.
Last year saw the Austrian team fined $7m for what the FIA described as a "minor" breach of the 2021 cap, as well as a 10% reduction in windtunnel time.
Clearly frustrated that the reduction in windtunnel time doesn't appear to have affected the Milton Keynes based outfit, which has won all ten races thus far, in response to rumours that two teams have exceeded the 2022 cap, Hamilton said: "There wasn't really a big punishment last time, there's no real... there will be people that will probably go for it again and know they are just going to get a slap on the wrist."
"There were breaches last year and clearly the punishment didn't fit the crime," chipped in teammate George Russell. "We don't want to be seeing that happen again and if it's a second time offender the punishment should be even greater than what perhaps is a fair punishment."
"Believe me, the hit that we've taken with the lack of wind tunnel time that we have compared to our competitors is a massive compromise," Horner told Sky Sports in response to the Mercedes pair's claim. "If wind tunnels don't count then why don't we just get rid of them?
"It's always easy to throw shade when you're not performing. It's one of the things in Formula One that will always continue to happen."
On the cusp of a record 12th consecutive victory, Horner added: "I'm just incredibly proud of the job that our team's doing with the constraints and handicap that we have.
"To be performing at the level we have this year, to have achieved 11 straight victories... it's been an outstanding achievement."
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