Christian Horner has stated that the cost cap penalty handed to Red Bull has already "significantly" limited their car development ahead of the 2023 F1 season. It was announced in October that the Milton Keynes-based outfit would be required to pay a $7 million fine and forfeit 10 per cent of their aerodynamic development allowance for breaching the financial regulations. Since then, the team have served almost 25 per cent of the penalty , with the fine having been paid while three of the first 12 months of the development punishment have been completed. Horner feels that the sanctions have impacted the team in the run-up to the 2023 campaign, but admits that they are trying to "adapt".
Horner on impact of Red Bull cost cap penalty
"We're probably 25 per cent almost of the way through that penalty, and of course it has an effect," Horner told RACER . "It's limiting significantly, the amount of runs that we can do in our wind tunnel over each quarter. And I think that the team are having to adapt to that. "And it just means you have to be a bit more focused, and more disciplined in what we put through the testing process within the tunnel or within our simulation tools."
'Another challenge' for Red Bull
While adapting to the punishment is posing a "challenge" for the team, Horner is confident in what Red Bull can still achieve. "It's another challenge. And it's a handicap for sure, coming into this year," he explained. "But we've got very capable people that are looking to obviously extract the best that we possibly can and apply ourselves in the most efficient and effective way." Max Verstappen and Red Bull put in an increasingly dominant performance in 2022 to claim both championships. Verstappen won a record-breaking 15 races en route to his second title, while the team took the Constructors' crown for the first time since 2013.
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