FIA boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem has broken his silence on the budget cap controversy that tainted the finale to the F1 season.
Red Bull, and more specifically Max Verstappen, were utterly dominant in 2022, with the Dutchman winning the drivers' title by a mammoth 146 points. With Sergio Perez third overall, the team also claimed a first Constructors' title since 2013.
The successful campaign followed on from Verstappen's first title win in 2021, albeit one clouded in controversy following the dubious finish to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last December. However, the legitimacy of that championship success then came under further scrutiny when it was reported Red Bull had breached regulations.
Team Principal Christian Horner vehemently denied the allegations, only for the FIA to then confirm the team had overspent by £1.8 million. The saga angered rival bosses, with McLaren chief Zak Brown accusing Horner and co of 'cheating ', while others implied that overspending in 2021 also helped Red Bull steal a march for the following campaign.
As a result, they were slapped with a £6 million fine and sanctioned with a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time, but avoided being retrospectively deducted any points. It led to many pundits, and opposition bosses, arguing the sanctions were lenient.
Ben Sulayem has now admitted he doesn't know if the punishment will prove a deterrent to other teams: "Who knows in the first year what is going to be the outcome?" he told Motorsport.com . "We didn't even expect it If you look at the other teams, they will say we have been light on them [Red Bull]."
He also insinuated that opinions on the saga were affected by allegiances: "And the penalty? Some of them want them to be hanged and they want to see blood. And the [guilty] teams themselves see it as huge on them. So where do you draw that?"
The 2022 season represented Ben Sulayem's first at the helm with the FIA. And it proved a tempestuous one, with the Emirati also overseeing the departure of Michael Masi, the former FIA race director who was central to the Abu Dhabi debacle this year.
And he did admit the authority had erred with their timing of their budget cap investigation: "The only thing I would say is what we did in September and October, it should be done early. But as the first year, we learned a lot from it. And we're still learning. So it is better [the punishment] to come in May; not in October."
