Max Verstappen issues defiant Red Bull verdict despite FIA punishment

Lewis Hamilton opens up on difficult season for Mercedes

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Max Verstappen has insisted that Red Bull will still be able to compete at the front of the grid next year despite being punished by the FIA for breaching the budget cap rules in 2021. The Austrian team will be forced to deal with a 10 per cent reduction in aerodynamic development allowance in 2023, which could put them at a disadvantage in comparison to the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes over the course of the campaign.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has already cast doubt over their hopes of winning another Constructors’ Championship title next year by insisting that up to five-tenths of a second per lap could be lost as a result of their testing restrictions. However, it seems as though Verstappen is still optimistic about Red Bull’s chances of success in spite of their unenviable predicament.

“It’s going to hurt us, but I am confident that my team will get it right and we will have a good start, we know where to start and what to work on,” Verstappen told Auto Motor und Sport.

“If we were at a loss as to which direction to go in, it would be an even bigger problem. We will find out over the year how much we actually suffer. Our car was competitive. If we keep the momentum going, it should be fine.”

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It remains to be seen whether Red Bull will be able to battle Ferrari and Mercedes for the end-of-season honours next year after establishing themselves as the dominant force on the grid over the course of the 2022 campaign. They ended up cruising to their first Constructors’ Championship triumph since 2014 by finishing over 200 points clear of their nearest rivals but there is every chance that a new team could emerge as the ones to beat as a result of Red Bull’s testing limitations.

Verstappen’s comments were recently echoed by Red Bull’s chief technology officer Adrian Newey, who believes that a clever approach to development can help to mitigate the lap time lost by the punishments handed down to them by the FIA.

“When you have limited resources, if you’re putting research and development into that car then that’s research and development you’re not putting into the brand new car for the new regulations,” said Newey in a Red Bull interview.

“We are focused on trying to get the fundamentals right. If we are really smart and always put on the right things then it doesn’t make much difference.

“Ferrari won’t be resting either. They will be sorting out their weak areas. They had a couple of reliability problems, made a couple of pit wall mistakes so they’ll be right back. It’s going to be a tough year for sure.”

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