FIA ‘make offer’ to Red Bull over cost cap breach - will they accept it?

F1’s governing body has gone down the first avenue of responding to a ‘minor’ overspend by setting out the terms of an ‘Accepted Breach Agreement’ to Red Bull, who were found guilty of breaching the $145m cost cap during Max Verstappen's maiden title-winning campaign in 2021. 

An Accepted Breach Agreement - or ABA - is where the team in question accepts they have done wrong and agree to follow certain actions that will be taken by the FIA’s Cost Cap Administration. 

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The details are currently confidential and Red Bull must now decide whether to accept the terms laid out by the FIA, or go before the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel. 

Accepting the ABA route would mean Red Bull would be hit with a minor sporting penalty and cannot lose constructors’ championship points, drivers’ championship points or a reduction in the cost cap. 

If Red Bull opted to challenge the FIA, the matter would be heard by a panel of independent judges to determine whether the party was guilty or not, and what penalty would be handed out. 

In this scenario, the aforementioned punishments would be options. 

Sky Sports has reported that Red Bull will call a press conference on Friday morning in Austin to address the cost cap breach ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. 

Red Bull’s rivals point finger amid cost cap saga

Red Bull’s F1 rivals have called for severe punishment to be handed out amid the ongoing saga. 

Two team bosses have told Sky Sports anonymously that Red Bull’s breach of the $145m spending limit for 2021 should be met with a substantial penalty. 

"We tend to agree that teams can gain a significant advantage by not adhering to the cap,” one said. “The punishment must be such that the advantage gained is removed and then some in order to disincentivise future breaches.”

Another team boss said: “The FIA should be left the freedom to do its own investigation and come up with the appropriate penalty, it should not be a case of teams pushing for this or that outcome.” 

But they added: “It is obvious to us that a penalty will need to go well beyond a fine, or else teams will just game the system and consider the fine as cost of business. 

“But it is for the FIA to find their solution, aware of the fact that failure to do so will mean the end of the budget cap.”

It comes after a letter from McLaren boss Zak Brown to the FIA emerged in which he declared that overspending “constitutes cheating”.