Red Bull boss Christian Horner says his team is “probably due an apology from some of our rivals” over the team’s cost-cap breach.
The world champions were fined $11 million and hit with a 10 per cent reduction in aerodynamic testing time, after being found to be $3.5 million over the $230 million cap in 2021.
The crisis exploded at the recent Singapore Grand Prix, when rumours began to circulate that Red Bull had breached the cap.
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At the time, McLaren boss Zak Brown wrote to the FIA, calling Red Bull’s actions “cheating.”
“The accusations made in Singapore were extremely upsetting for every single member of staff, all our partners, everyone involved within Red Bull,” said Horner.
“Obviously, any form of leakage is hugely worrying. It’s something that we expect to be followed up.”
The 2021 season was the first in which teams operated under the cost cap, and Horner conceded the sport still had plenty to learn.
“Potentially mistakes have been made in our submission, which with the benefit of hindsight and 20/20 vision, everybody can be a specialist.
“But there was no intent, there was nothing dishonest, and there was certainly no cheating involved which has been alleged in certain quarters. So I don’t feel that we need to apologise.
“I think there are lessons that have been learned. Everybody can learn from this. We’ve taken our pounding in public, we’ve taken a very public pounding, through the accusations that have been made by other teams.
“Our drivers have been booed at circuits. And the reputational damage that has been made by allegations has been significant. The time has come for that to stop.”
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