Helmut Marko has said that Red Bull, from their point of view, have done nothing wrong amid claims they may be one of the teams that has exceeded the 2021 budget cap.
Reports from Germany and Italy emerged ahead of the Singapore GP weekend that there might be two teams who have breached the budget cap for 2021, with Red Bull and Aston Martin the teams that were named.
However, it must be stressed that none of this is official or confirmed, and the FIA will be revealing their full findings, including any breaches, next week ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Even so, a lot of the speculation has captured the attention with Red Bull being named, and Helmut Marko has been left 'unimpressed' by the claims, saying that the team feels as though they were within the 2021 budget.
“The FIA says they don’t know how this came out, but it’s weird that certain things from an ongoing process are being exposed. That’s defamatory,” he said to Sky Deutschland.
“I just find it amazing that something like this gets public. It damages your reputation.
“Once the facts are clear, we can talk about it. I cannot comment on the procedure at all. From our point of view, however, we have not exceeded the cost limit.”
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 30: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 30, 2022 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images,)
“It’s an ongoing process, there are ongoing discussions where certain points are being clarified. But we’re not really worried at the moment,” Marko added.
Red Bull are pretty unhappy about what has been levelled at them, with rival teams chiming in after the reports were published.
Ultimately, we just need to wait and see what the reports reveal next week from the FIA, and then we can see what will unfold after that.