Mercedes counters Red Bull: "As we know, that is not the case"

Horner revealed in Mexico on Friday that the seven per cent less wind tunnel time is going to have "draconian" consequences for Red Bull. The Austrian formation suspects they will lose two tenths to half a second because of this penalty. Mercedes and Alfa Romeo Racing argue that none of this is true.

Mercedes and Alfa Romeo adamant

Shovlin: "To describe it as draconian is an exaggeration. The penalty is slightly more than one championship place, less than two," the Brit is referring to the fact that the higher you finish in the World Cup, the fewer runs you are allowed. Per position in the World Championship, that's five per cent each time. "Half a second would mean a team at the back of the field has a lead of more than three seconds. But as we know, that is not the case."

At Mercedes, they call one or two tenths a much more realistic scenario. Vasseur, according to Motorsport-Magazin.com Shovlin's words by stating that Horner's reasoning is not quite right. "I don't think you lose half a second with this penalty. Otherwise we would be pretty stupid ourselves and look like dicks."

Ferrari would have liked to see different penalty

At Ferrari, they are not at all happy with the penalty handed out by the FIA. According to the sporting director, the shorter wind tunnel time is totally disproportionate to the lap time gained thanks to the budget cap violation. "Something like that can affect races and maybe even world championships!" Mekies therefore says he does not understand why the FIA did not choose to lower the budget cap for Red Bull in 2023. He says that would have had more impact than a USD7 million fine and less wind tunnel time.