FIA ‘penalty offer’ to Red Bull emerges after Christian Horner’s private talks with chief | F1 | Sport

Red Bull have already reportedly been offered a penalty for breaching the 2021 budget cap. But the team’s chief Christian Horner is yet to accept it after meeting with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Friday. Red Bull can secure the F1 Constructors’ Championship at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday after Max Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship when he triumphed at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month.

Red Bull went toe-to-toe with Mercedes for the team championship last year, while Max Verstappen wrestled with Lewis Hamilton for the individual title. Red Bull ultimately missed out to the Silver Arrows, but Verstappen lifted the F1 trophy for the first time as he got the better of Hamilton on the final lap of the season-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

It has since been revealed that Red Bull breached the £114million budget cap by around £1.6m last year. And the FIA are set to dish out a punishment to the energy drink giants.

According to Auto, Motor und Sport, the FIA have proposed to take away 25 per cent of Red Bull’s total wind tunnel time next season as well as issuing a fine. And that means the team would avoid a retrospective points deduction for the 2021 season. But drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez do not agree with the prospective punishment.

READ MORE: Red Bull suffer blows at US Grand Prix with Max Verstappen complaints

There have been growing calls for Red Bull to face strict sanctions, with Haas boss Guenther Steiner wading into the debate on Friday. “I think it is very important for the sport to get it right,” he said ahead of the race in Austin. “I don’t know exactly what has happened – there was no official line.

“I’m sure there will be a penalty for what has been done. The cost cap penalty needs to be severe enough that it doesn’t repeat. We need to learn out of what was done to make it better going forwards.”