Formula 1 Teams Still Awaiting Penalties Decision for Red Bull's Budget Cap Breach

• Teams under the F1 budget cap say there "must be consequences" for Red Bull after the dominant Formula 1 team was found to have breached the 2021 budget cap.

• McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says that it must first be clarified "whether someone spent too much on catering or whether they got a clear advantage in the performance of the car."

The FIA has already ruled that Red Bull Racing exceeded the sport's $145 million budget cap for 2021. The sanctioning body, however, has yet to determine—or at least publicly announce—the penalty.

Teams who played by the rules say there "must be consequences" for Red Bull after the dominant Formula 1 team was found to have breached the 2021 budget cap. In Austin this weekend, a major talking point will be the likely penalties, which according to the FIA are "currently" being discussed behind closed doors.

This week, it emerged that McLaren team principal Zak Brown wrote a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and reportedly leaked to the media that accused Red Bull of "cheating."

"The events cast a bad light on the sport," the McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl told European media outlet Sport Bild magazine. "Clear violations must be clearly punished."

Seidl acknowledged, however, that it must first be clarified "whether someone spent too much on catering or whether they got a clear advantage in the performance of the car."

Even former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who was historically close to Red Bull, is of mind that the likely penalty will in fact be "worse" than a mere fine.

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner told another European outlet RTL ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix: "There are regulations and they have to be followed. There must be consequences."

However, Steiner added that he doesn't know in what areas Red Bull overspent and how close it was to the 5% 'minor' threshold, which could be as much as $7 million.

"I think the FIA must take action," Steiner said. "It doesn't have to be tomorrow but it does need to be worked through so we set a sign for the future that no one else can do it or you don't just get an advantage by breaking the rules and paying a fine.

"But I think it has to be very carefully thought about how it is approached."