After completing their audits, the FIA has found Red Bull and Aston Martin guilty of breaching the financial regulations for 2021. According to fresh reports, Red Bull received a $7m fine and a reduction in aerodynamics testing on Friday. Meanwhile, FIA stated that Aston Martin admitted procedural breach, leading to holding talks with F1's governing body about an Accepted Breach Agreement.
In a statement released by FIA, the motorsports' governing body explained that Aston Martin had inaccurately excluded and adjusted costs in calculating its relevant costs, including costs for its new headquarters, wind tunnel additional fees and additional fees and costs relating to its new F1 simulator.
The above mentioned breaches led to Aston Martin being slapped with a $450,000 fine that must be paid within 30 days. Meanwhile, FIA confirmed that Red Bull overspent by 1.6 per cent and admitted that it would be under 0.4 per cent had Red Bull filled a permitted tax credit correctly.
"Red Bull acted cooperatively throughout the review process and has sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested promptly, that this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence that RBR has sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or fraudulently, nor has it willfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration," read the FIA statement.
It further informed that Red Bull's accounts were finalized in Pound Sterling and the ABA shows its original submission came in at £114,293,000 ($132.4m at the current exchange rate) — nearly £4,000,000 ($4.6m) under the cap. Still, the Cost Cap Administration found it inaccurately excluded and adjusted costs amounting to £5,607,000 ($6.5m) in its 2021 Full Year Reporting Documentation.
As per FIA, there were 13 areas where they found adjustments that needed to be made, including catering costs, sick pay, and the value of unused parts. "Specific figures for every area were prohibited from being released due to data protection laws," read the FIA statement.
