Christian Horner will be joined by McLaren chief executive Zak Brown and Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto for what looks set to be an awkward and potentially explosive press conference.
The Formula 1 circus heads to Texas this weekend for the United States Grand Prix. But the event looks set to be overshadowed by the news broken by the FIA last week.
The sport's governing body finally released its findings after analysis of each team's spending during the 2021 season. Red Bull was the only constructor accused by the FIA of a "minor" breach of the cost cap, though shortly afterwards the team released a statement in which they said they were "surprised" and disagreed with the findings.
Officially, things have been quiet ever since given there was no race last weekend. But the subject can be avoided no longer, now the racing schedule is set to resume in Austin.
While Horner may well face the TV cameras beforehand, he will undoubtedly be grilled on the subject on Saturday morning in the FIA's team principals press conference. Interestingly, those who decide the schedule chose to place Binotto and Brown in the same room as it happens.
The latter's inclusion is particularly awkward, given it was leaked earlier this week that he wrote a letter to the FIA demanding harsh penalties for Red Bull in the wake of the governing body's revelation. In it, he claimed the breach will have given Red Bull a "significant advantage" and called for a speedy resolution to the issue.
"The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development," wrote the McLaren boss. "We don't feel a financial penalty alone would be a suitable penalty for an overspend breach or a serious procedural breach. There clearly needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA.
"We suggest that the overspend should be penalised by way of a reduction to the team's cost cap in the year following the ruling, and the penalty should be equal to the overspend plus a further fine – ie an overspend of $2m in 2021, which is identified in 2022, would result in a $4m deduction in 2023 ($2m to offset the overspend plus $2m fine)."
Binotto has yet to publicly react to the overspend Red Bull are accused of. But even before it was announced, the Italian had gone on record to state even a "minor" overspend would make Ferrari very unhappy as it could still give their rivals a huge advantage in the current campaign and for years to come.
