Waiting for Honda to reveal if it can do something to salvage the power unit that Verstappen rode at the last British GP, Red Bull is beginning to assume that recovering from such an economic shock is going to be tough.
Taking part of the premier class of motorsport and all that it entails is not cheap at all. Although the FIA has redoubled its efforts in recent years to achieve a more affordable Formula 1 so that new manufacturers can take an interest in the sport, the truth is that the costs are still high, but they are far from what it was in the past .
On average, large teams invested between 300 and 400 million euros before the budget cap came into effect this year 2021. 145 million dollars, which has been slightly more than 120 million euros, is what they have been able to spend for this season, a figure that will gradually decrease until 2023.
Seeing then the state in which Verstappen’s RB16B was left at Silverstone, how much will it cost the Milton Keynes men to financially face such damage? Helmut Marko has the solution: «As things are, they will be more or less three quarters of a million euros, although the situation of the engine is not entirely clear, “estimated the Austrian leader, an amount that the statement on the Verstappen website corroborates.
“Especially in times of budget limitsThis is a significant amount, it hurts us, ”added Marko. These exorbitant figures lead us to wonder how much the different parts that make up a car cost. A chassis? Half a million pounds (€ 578,000). A rear wing with your DRS? Between € 70,000 and € 125,000. A whole front wing? € 115,000, well less than the € 290,000 that a gearbox is around, while a steering wheel costs ‘only’ € 40,000.
Verstappen official website statement
«Max Verstappen is relatively well one day after his serious accident. The Red Bull driver is still a bit stiff, especially in his upper body, but is otherwise unharmed after the most serious accident of his career at Silverstone.
On the first lap of the British Grand Prix, the Dutchman was wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton for the lead of the race. Everything went terribly wrong at the Copse corner, when the Briton collided with his front left wheel against Max’s rear right, in an opportunistic attempt to overtake. Max’s RB16B spun, sending him back against the tire barrier. The stewards considered Hamilton to be the culprit, but only imposed a small 10-second penalty.
While Hamilton triumphantly celebrated his victory in front of his audience, Max was transferred to Coventry Hospital for further tests. Fortunately, the CT scans and MRIs did not reveal any injuries, and at around 10pm Max was released from the hospital. On Monday morning, Max flew home to Monaco with his father Jos, as planned, to continue his recovery. Max is fine and feels good, given the heavy impact of no less than 51G.
Obviously the RB16B is lost, which means a loss of € 750,000 for Red Bull. With the current budget cap in Formula 1, this is a significant expense. The power unit has been shipped to Japan, where Honda will examine it to see if it can be salvaged. By allowing the use of only 3 engines per season, this could lead to another setback.