Wolff: Cost cap saga inflicted 'reputational damage' on Red Bull

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has declared himself satisfied overall with the sanction imposed by the FIA on Red Bull for its transgression of F1's 2021 cost cap regulations.

Wolff also noted the "robust governance" followed by the sport's governing body in its audit and analysis processes..

Red Bull was fined $7 million for exceeding last year's permitted budget of $145 million in 13 specific areas.

But the Milton Keynes-based outfit was also handed a sporting penalty represented by a 10% reduction in aerodynamic research, a sanction that RBR team boss Christian Horner called "draconian".

Read also:

• FIA hits Red Bull with $7M fine for 2021 cost cap breach
• Horner: Cost cap penalty 'draconian' – worth 0.5s of laptime

"I think the most important thing for me is that there is a robust governance," Wolff told Sky F1 in Mexico on Friday. "They didn’t bulge an eyelid, they just followed a process, how it went.

"I know how rigorous they were with us, all throughout the year, that was a difficult process and when I’m seeing 13 positions that were wrong, with us it wasn’t the case.

"And it’s just good to see there is a penalty, whether we deem it to be too low or too high."

Regarding Red Bull's sporting penalty and the 10% reduction of permitted aerodynamic testing, Wolff believes that Red Bull will have suffered reputational damage from its cost cap saga.

"I think what you see is that beyond the sporting penalty and the financial fine there’s also a reputational damage and in a world of transparency and good governance that’s just not on anymore," he said.

"And compliance-wise, in whatever team you are, you’re responsible for representing a brand, your employees, your partners, and that’s why for us it wouldn’t be a business case."

Horner made clear that Red Bull's sporting penalty would have a bearing on the team's performance next season, and Wolff agreed, having experienced with Mercedes the challenge of dealing with less aero tools.

"Any reduction on wind tunnel time will have an impact in performance," he said. "We’ve been in the fortunate situation that we’ve won the championship, so for 18 months we had seven per cent less than Red Bull for over one and a half year.

"Overall it all adds up and if you look at Ferrari at the moment, they were 6th the previous year and got massively more performance from the extra time they had.

"So, now we’re unfortunately benefiting from being 3rd on the road, getting 14 per cent more than the leader and now we have more 10 per cent, so that is quite a lot.

"But you need to see where you utilize it."

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