"I'm probably some sort of antichrist": Red Bull F1 boss continues to claim his team 'did not cheat' last season

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently claimed that his team did not cheat and breach the cost cap in the 2022 F1 season. Last year, the FIA investigated and revealed that the Austrian-British team breached the cost cap in 2021. Hence, several fans are speculating whether they have done so in 2022 as well.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Horner explained how some fans of Lewis Hamilton might even think that he is an 'antichrist' and evil. However, he is simply supporting his team and helping them succeed as much as possible. He is 100 percent sure that Red Bull did not cheat last season. He said:

"For your average Lewis [Hamilton] fan, I'm probably some sort of antichrist. But I make no apology for standing up for my team. I am protective of them, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. I know we didn't cheat last year. I'm 100 percent comfortable with that."

Christian Horner also stated that Red Bull has a brilliant success story. Despite being an Austrian-owned team, he pointed out how the team is heavily tied to Great Britain as well since their entire factory is based in the country. He added:

"I also think people forget, Red Bull Racing is an incredible success story for this country too. Of course we are Austrian-owned and we are proud of that. But we're a British-based team with a British team principal and 85 percent of our workforce must be British."

As of now, the FIA has not come out and mentioned anything regarding the 2022 F1 season budget. Hence, only time will tell whether Red Bull breached the cost cap or not.

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Helmut Marko believes Red Bull is ready for when their lead 'melts away'

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko feels that his team's lead will diminish as 2023 F1 season progresses. This is mainly due to the reduced wind tunnel time and the quality of the upgrades.

Though the team already has a brilliant car to start off strong, others will soon catch up with their upgrade packages. Speaking about the reduced wind tunnel time and how the team is prepared to fight when other teams close the gap, Marko said (via Formel1.de):

"We prepared ourselves optimally for the season. Once we knew that this penalty would be imposed, it was clear that, when we went into the wind tunnel, it had to be done in an efficient manner and each run with a clear plan."

He added:

"At the moment, we've managed to do all that. But, of course, as the season progresses and we run out of wind tunnel time, the others will still have that available and our lead will then melt away. That's why it's extremely important that we take the points with us now."