 Christian Horner fired back at Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after the Mercedes pair claimed Red Bull weren't punished enough for breaking the budget cap. Ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, rumours have been circulating that three teams may have breached the Formula One budget cap, though this has been denied by the FIA. The story has once again brought up discussion over how teams should be punished especially following the criticism of the way Red Bull were penalised when they were found guilty last year. The champions committed a 'minor overspend' during the 2021 season and were subsequently fined £6million and given a 10% reduction in their wind tunnel time, penalties team principal Horner labelled 'draconian'. But many on the grid feel the FIA did not go far enough, especially in light of how easily Red Bull have been able to dominate in 2023, with Hamilton and Russell 'concerned' that teams will continue to break the rules if the punishments are too light. Horner is having none of this however, telling Sky Sports: 'Believe me the hit we've taken with the lack of wind tunnel time compared to our competitors is a massive compromise. 'If wind tunnels don't count, why don't we just get rid of them? It's easy to throw shade when you're not performing. It's one of the things in Formula One that will always continue to happen. Lewis Hamilton wants stricter punishments for teams that break the budget cap (Photo: Getty) 'I'm just incredibly proud of the job our teams are doing with the constraints and the handicap we have.' Red Bull have suffered an early below ahead of the race in Hungary, with Sergio Perez making a poor mistake and crashing into the barriers just minutes into the first practice session on Friday. 'It's obviously frustrating to have had that off. It was unfortunate. He just put a wheel on the grass and made a mistake into Turn 5,' Horner said shortly aft){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Christian Horner fired back at Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after the Mercedes pair claimed Red Bull weren’t punished enough for breaking the budget cap.
Ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, rumours have been circulating that three teams may have breached the Formula One budget cap, though this has been denied by the FIA.
The story has once again brought up discussion over how teams should be punished especially following the criticism of the way Red Bull were penalised when they were found guilty last year.
The champions committed a ‘minor overspend’ during the 2021 season and were subsequently fined £6million and given a 10% reduction in their wind tunnel time, penalties team principal Horner labelled ‘draconian’.