Corporate spending can very easily get out of hand. You’ve obviously never spent an evening in a Milan nightclub. 
Basically, one side claims xy&z should be included, the other side claims xy&z shouldn’t be included.
Unless you know exactly what xy&z is, you (or anybody else) aren’t in a position to comment on who is right or wrong.
Same applies to commenting on the punishment.
I agree Max is a worthy world champion. But I feel RB should lose the Constructors Championship this year if they are proven to have broken the Budget Cap. Having read an article in the Race this evening, it could be that it could be that RB has made a legitimate interpretation of the rules that are different to the FIA’s because of different interpretations of the wording of the regulations. This could get messy and lawyers will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Sadly I suspect F1 has shot itself in the foot again.
I guess we shouldn’t get too worried about how the F1 is run these days as it’s just mega bucks spent on cars/teams/drivers that have no relationship with anything you and I drive.
I’d scrape all rules and let them go for it.
The question of why the FIA is useful and needed by F1 will probably arise again. It seems a legacy construct nowadays.
If it’s true that it’s mostly about the catering, I think that’s absolutely ridiculous. It has nothing to do with the development of the cars, and why would the teams hospitality have to suffer from these rules? This should be just about the development of the cars.
I understand that the rules as they were written had to be followed, but one would hope that they would fix this for next year. And if indeed this is the main issue any punishment would be very lenient.
But it looks like Red Bull will appeal, so likely it is an interpretation issue and not a deliberate overspend, otherwise there wouldn’t be any point. The rules should probably be updated either way.
I guess there is a need to avoid loopholes. Say you cut all the staff’s salaries but give them free meals? If catering isn’t included you’ve reduced your spending under the cap
I think you are slightly misrepresenting how a team budget works. Redbull are trying to use one part of their teams spend that seems the most benign, but in reality it is part of their operating budget and is relevant. If they have to have this spend to create a benefits package for their employees then it absolutely counts and forms part of the core costs. It would be upgrades and development that has driven them over budget as this was done at their discretion and could (should) have been stopped to prevent budget breaches.
I really get fed up with the nonsense that comes out of Christian Horners mouth. What’s worse is he believes it’s true. He just wants the media to spin it in a way that makes the overspend seem trivial, when in fact it is very significant.
I really hope the punishment impacts the team going forward. It’s impossible to calculate the advantage gained from the overspend, but the performance of the car has definitely benefited.
I often tell Mrs Bruss that we have overspent the budget on food, normally just after I’ve upgraded the hifi.
No food😁
Much like the fia. Tells me I’ve been a very naughty boy and not to do it again.
and then next year Oops! I did it again.
But. It’s impossible for you or anybody else to calculate the severity of the punishment without knowing the amount of overspend or the reason for the overspend.
To be fair to Mr Bruss, it can’t be easy keeping within a budget set in dollars, if she’s spending Euro’s, pounds and Yen.
The reason for the overspend is largely irrelevant. Overspend is in breach of the rules that was within their control. That is cheating, plain and simple.
As for the punishment, it needs to discourage Redbull and other teams to breaching the budget cap, plain and simple. If that breach has been instrumental in winning back to back drivers titles, a small (relatively) fine just won’t cut it. Any team who can afford a £5m overspend can afford to pay a £5m fine from all the extra revenue the titles generate. As much as I dislike Max and his smug attitude I don’t think the drivers titles should be stripped, but the team being excluded from the constructors championship and the return of championship prize money should be enough to encourage their accountants to be a little more diligent. That goes for all teams too, not just Redbull.
Yep, punish the team, not the driver.
Or… it is a carefully researched and planned strategy of the whole team. This is a multi million dollar sport. They will have dedicated people scrutinizing what can and cannot be done and exploit every loophole there they think there are. As do all the other teams. Horner is really just saying things that have been vetted and supported by people earning bigger salaries than I ever will.
Does it mean that they are always right? No, that is what an investigation should show. If the interpretation of the rules by the team can be supported.
But all teams and all drivers are looking at the rules and interpretations of the rules to get the absolute maximum out of it. If they did not they would not be in this industry. And no team principal is an angel. They are hardcore cutthroat businesses men. No one gets to that level by being nice, sadly.
I’m sure the accounts were very diligent and did exactly what was asked. Given the cap I’m sure all teams are well aware of exactly what they are spending and how close they are to their target. It’s just that some teams were targeting 105% of the cap.
I’ve now read that a large part (all) of the overspend is Newey’s salary. Red Bull included him as one of the three best paid employees (excluded from the cap). But as he’s hired through a consultancy agreement instead of being directly employed the FIA doesn’t want to include him as not an employee.
The catering etc. might just have been a diversion to keep his contract details out of the public eye.
It’s interesting that nothing is heard about the Aston Martin case, either before as rumour, or now. Speaking of which shouldn’t the FIA launch an investigation of how so much information leaked to Mercedes/Wolff while the investigation was still ongoing?
That sounds like Newey is working a Jimmy Carr style tax efficiency angle and it may have inadvertently cost Red Bull.
The issue surrounding Aston Martin are thought to be a procedural breach, somewhat like Williams. It has been known up and down the pit lane, so not just Merc and Wolf, although I would think Toto would “poke the bear” every opportunity he got. Winding up Horner is like a sport in itself 
. That doesn’t alter the fact the we should hear what the breach was as we have done with Williams.
How does she punish you?