F1: Ferrari budget cap claims 'nonsense'

(GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says it’s “nonsense” that Red Bull is already blasting through its limited allocation of money for car development in 2022.

His denial comes as the total peace between reigning champion Max Verstappen’s team and that of championship leader Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari ends.

Red Bull officials questioned in Miami whether Ferrari illegally trialed a new floor during the recent Pirelli tire test in Imola. Then, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto openly began wondering how Red Bull can afford to be developing so intensely early in 2022 under the budget cap regime.

“Nonsense,” Marko told motorsport-total.com.

“I don’t think we are in a significantly different position than Ferrari in this respect.

“I especially wonder what effect it has had on them that Carlos Sainz has already crashed the car several times. That can’t be cheap,” the 78-year-old Austrian said.

Carlos Sainz Jr. choked yet again, crashing his Ferrari in qualifying Friday at Imola

So while Ferrari is planning a significant upgrade for Barcelona this weekend, so too is Red Bull.

“We plan our updates in such a way that we always achieve a weight reduction,” Marko said. “Unfortunately, we have not yet reached the minimum weight, and we will not succeed until the next update.

“I don’t think we have spent more,” he added. “It is true that logistics costs have increased, and they are a problem, but that applies to us as well as to Ferrari and the other teams.”