The competitive blow suffered by Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing as a consequence of the accident at the British GP is not the only cost that the blue team is going to have to face. 

One just has to look at one of the many videos that circulate on social networks to realise the violence of his impact against the tyre piles of the Silverstone circuit. The footage also provides an idea of the state of repair of the car following the accident and of the immense costs involved in repairing it. 

Three-quarter of a million euro bill for Red Bull Racing! 

Team advisor, Helmut Marko, has been the man in charge of coming up with a figure for the repair costs: “We are talking about 750,000 euros approximately.” 

In any case, the Austrian veteran and head of Red Bull’s young drivers’ program has pointed out that this is only an initial estimate. The final cost will very much depend on how much of the engine can be saved from the wreckage. 

Considering the astronomical budgets traditionally handled by Formula One teams, that amount might appear irrelevant. In this case, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth, the reason being that in the current season new regulations have come into force that severely restrict each team’s annual spending. 

A smaller budget for future vehicle development 

Unexpected expenses such as the one that Red Bull has to deal with now, will inevitably make a dent in the team’s financial ability to invest in other areas of the car. The ongoing development of the vehicles is, in fact, what absorbs most of a team’s resources. 

It is, therefore, reasonable to believe that the Silverstone incident could have a negative effect on the performance of the Scuderia from Milton Keynes, for the simple reason that they are going to be more strapped on resources. 

As for the engine, this has already made its way to Honda’s Japanese headquarters in Sakura, where it is being subjected to a thorough evaluation.

After a preliminary inspection, however, the Japanese engineers have said to be confident in their ability to bring the battered ‘heart’ of the RB16B back to life. As per some inside sources, the damage to the engine “seemed worse than what it really is“. 

A regulatory problem 

If in the end, however, Red Bull was unable to reuse the damaged engine, the current championship leaders would find themselves at a very significant disadvantage. 

FIA regulations only allow three engines per season, per driver. If a driver ends up needing more, he is penalised with several positions on the starting grid, radically diminishing his winning chances in that race. 

In this case, the engine that Max was using when the accident occurred was his second, and this was approximately in the middle of its life cycle since each engine tends to last for about seven Grands Prix.

Red Bull Racing, very angry

All of these added contingencies have further inflamed the spirits within Red Bull. In fact, instead of appeasing their frustration, their indignation has continued to rise over the last few hours. 

Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, added fuel to the fire with the following words to Mercedes´ driver Lewis Hamilton: “It was a huge accident. It was a desperate moment. He had lost the way out. It’s disappointing for a seven-time champion to make that kind of move and send a driver to hospital. It is a worthless victory”. 

Horner also added with irony, but with a stern tone of reproach: “I hope Lewis is very happy with himself.” 

Images of Red Bull Racing: Red Bull Racing Twitter.