F1 News: Red Bull question Mercedes involvement in financial leaks

Red Bull has raised questions about the involvement Mercedes played in the leaks of their overspending on the budget cap in the 2021 season.

The Austrian squad has expressed suspicion since the first reports about Red Bull’s overspending emerged, with Christian Horner suggesting that Mercedes should have no knowledge of Red Bull’s accounts.

Mattia Binotto and Toto Wolff were some of many in the paddock who were confident that Red Bull has breached the cost cap in 2021, weeks before the financial report from the FIA was published.

These statements eventually came to reality, with the FIA confirming Red Bull’s breach of the budget cap in their financial report.

In an interview with RTL, Helmut Marko raised questions about the involvement of Mercedes in the team’s financial information being known prior to official FIA announcements:

“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 violations. 

“The whole thing doesn’t make a good impression.”