GreenBkk Formula 1 | Red Bull accused of blocking new RRA

Red Bull accused of blocking new RRA

Reports that Red Bull overspent during the 2010 season are refusing to go away, despite claims to the contrary from team principal Christian Horner.

Former FIA president Max Mosley was the first to lift the lid on the Milton Keynes-based outfit's request for "amnesty for the non-compliance" of the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) last year.

Red Bull team boss Horner, though, has denied the allegations.

"We completely adhered to the RRA within 2010 - and Red Bull Racing had only perhaps the third or fourth-largest budget in Formula 1," he told Autosport "We've achieved great efficiency in reducing the headcount versus our external spend.

"We are all in favour of containing costs moving forward, and the RRA is a good way of achieving that - as long as it is consistent, fair, equitable and transparent across all the activities of all the teams. We don't want to turn the formula into a power-train dictated Championship."

However, speculation that they spent more than they were supposed to persists.

According to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, the 2010 Championship winners not only exceeded their budget, but they are now also blocking the new RRA agreement.

'Rivals - almost without exception, I'm told - believe Red Bull exceeded en route to winning the world title last year the limitations laid out in the document that defines how teams commit their budgets. They also claim that Red Bull are blocking a new version of the so-called Resource Restriction Agreement to take the sport through to 2017, where the current one runs only to 2012.

'One insider at a rival team said Red Bull had been "flouting" the RRA. This is quite a serious accusation, as it effectively claims Red Bull either spent longer developing the aerodynamics of their car, employed more staff, or spent more money - or all three - than they were allowed to. In other words, they had an unfair advantage.'

Teams are still to agree on the new cost-saving agreement, but Red Bull are apparently unhappy with some of the proposed changes.

The BBC blog adds: 'One team principal, who did not wish to be identified, said that the new RRA relaxes the restrictions on resources - teams can spend a bit more money and employ a few more staff - and in return the policing is stricter, both in terms of how teams' spending is analysed and the penalties for exceeding the limits.'

Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)