He said: “It’s a hit, it’s a handicap, and we are going to have to work incredibly hard. It gives an advantage to our competitors, which is why they were pushing so hard for a draconian penalty.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has praised the FIA for their ‘robust governance’.
“I think what is the most important [thing] for me is that there is a robust governance. They didn’t budge an eyelid – they just followed the process, how it went. Federico [Lodi, the FIA’s head of financial regulations] and his team, I think were very good in assessing,” the Austrian said.
“I know how rigorous they were with us, all throughout the year – that was a difficult process. When I’m seeing 13 positions that were wrong [with Red Bull’s submission], with us it wasn’t the case. It’s just overall good to see that there is a penalty, whether we deem it too low or too high.”