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Red Bull agrees to pay $11 million for F1 cost cap breach during Max Verstappen championship year

Red Bull will pay a fine as punishment for breaching Formula 1's cost cap in 2021.

The governing FIA announced the punishment ahead of the weekend's Mexican Grand Prix, weeks after it was revealed Red Bull were the only team to exceed the $US145 million cap.

Max Verstappen won his first drivers' championship in 2021 for Red Bull, but because the breach was "minor" his title was never in jeopardy.

The FIA announced Red Bull would be fined $US7 million ($11 million) for the breach.

In their report, released on Saturday morning AEDT, the FIA said Red Bull had exceeded the cap by 1.6 per cent.

Converting the currency into British pounds, they said the team overspent by 1,864,000 pounds.

The total Red Bull breached by could have been considerably lower, had the team correctly filed a tax break of 1,431,348 pounds, according to the FIA.

"There is no accusation or evidence that RBR [Red Bull Racing] has sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, nor has it wilfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration," the FIA statement read.

Red Bull will also be granted less time from the FIA for aerodynamic testing over the next 12 months, which could hinder performance upgrades.

F1 introduced a cost cap for teams' expenditures last season of $US145 million.

The cap was first announced in 2019 and was introduced to shrink the gap between the top teams and the backmarkers on the grid.

The cap has shrunk to $US140 million for this season and $US135 million for 2023.

The cap covers expenditure that relates to car performance.

Marketing costs, race driver fees and the salaries of the team's three highest-paid personnel are not included in the cost cap.

Other things which are excluded are travel expenditures for race and testing weekends, fees to enter the championship and purchasing superlicences.

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