The Red Bull team did not overspend during the 2010 season, according to team boss Christian Horner, despite claims from former FIA president Max Mosley before Christmas that they broke the Resource Restriction Agreement.
Mosley claimed in an interview with the Auto Moto und Sport publication that the RBR team had asked for an exception to the new RRA, which was the team's chosen alternative cost-cutting measure to Mosley's more stringent budget cap.The former FIA boss said that the incident proved that the RRA was a flawed plan to curb spending in the sport, even as the teams continue to thrash out the details of a new agreement to run from 2011-2017.
The outline of the new RRA was agreed at the Singapore Grand Prix last year, but disagreements over the finer details have led to the new agreement being delayed, specifically around the penalties imposed for a team breaking the agreement.
But with Red Bull reportedly the main team pushing for heavy penalties for teams overspending, Horner has said that the suggestion from Mosley that his team broke the RRA in 2010 was incorrect.
"The RRA has been a positive thing for Formula 1 - as it has genuinely saved costs," Horner bellowed in an interview with the Autosport website on Sunday.
"Contrary to speculation, we completely adhered to the RRA within 2010 - and Red Bull Racing had only perhaps the third or fourth-largest budget in Formula 1. We've achieved great efficiency in reducing the headcount versus our external spend."
He added that: "We are all in favour of containing costs moving forward, and the RRA is a good way of achieving that - as long as it is consistent, fair, equitable and transparent across all the activities of all the teams.
"We don't want to turn the formula into a power-train dictated championship. It is much like squeezing a balloon. You don't want to squeeze one end of it only to find that all the air is simply shooting to another position."
The teams are planning further meetings before the start of the season in order to secure the new RRA, with the alternative plan being to continue under the old framework for another year.
Meanwhile, Red Bull will have their new RB7 on the track at the first test of the pre-season, according to Horner.
His confirmation that the team is still "on schedule" follows the news that their rivals at McLaren will start the 2011 pre-season testing period with an 'interim' car, only introducing their new MP4-26 at the second test in Jerez.
"We're on schedule for first test," Horner beamed, "It will be extremely tight to be there and ready on time, but that is our aim. We will be confirming our plans, and details about the launch, soon."
Red Bull were the only frontrunner to skip the first test of the year last season, but teams are placing more emphasis on ensuring they do not skip track time this year, given the need to test the new Pirelli tyres.
RBR motorsport advisor Helmut Marko added that the team will not be hosting a lavish car launch event, and will probably simply roll the car out in the Valencia pit lane.
Marko added that the schedule for getting the RB7 to Valencia was "very tight" but added that he was confident that the car would be ready.
"We start into the winter testing without [a] formal launch, but we intend to use the RB7 right from the beginning in Valencia," he rambled.
"It will be very tight, but we are still on schedule with the new car."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
