F1 News: Red Bull to hire "necessary security" to combat Mercedes
Red Bull has raised questions about Mercedes' involvement in the leaks about their budget cap overspending, suggesting an investigation is necessary.
The topic of Red Bull's overspending has dominated headlines in F1 for weeks, with the first reports about the team's breach emerging well before the official FIA report.
It was eventually confirmed in the FIA Financial review that Red Bull did overspend on the cap in 2021, validating the reports already circulating throughout the paddock.
From the outset of these reports, Christian Horner questioned how rival team principals Toto Wolff and Mattia Binotto would know what Red Bull's accounts were.
After accepting the FIA's penalty of a $7 million fine and reduced wind tunnel time, Red Bull's Helmut Marko has joined Christian Horner in questioning how their financial information was leaked.
Speaking to RTL, Marko outlined some of his suspicions:
"It's strange. A Mercedes employee switched to the FIA, processed these documents for the cost cap at Mercedes and was then responsible for checking at the FIA.
"In our opinion, there is definitely a compliance violation or at least an indication of compliance violation.
"The whole thing doesn't make a good impression...
"We hire accountants to have the necessary security here."
It is quite common for former employees at F1 teams to take positions at the FIA, with plenty of former Ferrari employees - as an example - in senior positions within the FIA.
Red Bull has no evidence for its claims, but there is no denying that most of the paddock knew the team's financial expenditure well before financial reports were released.
Toto Wolff, weeks before any FIA announcement, even described Red Bull's overspending as an open secret.
As ever, the off-track antics in Formula 1 prove to be as important and hotly contested as the battles and racing on-track.
F1's budget cap will continue to generate controversy in upcoming years as teams push to maximise development without overstepping the limit.