Red Bull have shared a New Years post to social media and have been hit with backlash from fans.
The team wrote:
“A year we’ll remember forever Thank you, 2022”
One unhappy F1 fan commented, referring to the 2021 cost cap breach and the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“We’ll all remember the CHEATING for sure. You can’t win without cheating or help from the FIA! Your team is pathetic!”
The team were handed a $7 million fine for exceeding the cost cap in 2021 as well as receiving a reduction in wind tunnel time for the 2023 season.
Another Twitter user commented in a similar fashion. They wrote:
“Not really surprising when you had to spend more than every other team. I’d remember that forever, too! Perhaps 2021 will be remembered, too, especially for the many ways you found to cheat. Oh and Masi handing you the win, yeah, you’ll remember that too, I’m certain of that!”
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The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had one of the most controversial ends to a race which ultimately led to former race director Michael Masi stepping down from his role. It was the last race of the season and the decider for the driver’s championship between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was leading under safety car conditions towards the end of the race, with Verstappen in second.
In usual circumstances, when a safety car is ending all lapped cars have the opportunity to un-lap themselves before the race gets going again. In this situation, Masi realized there was not enough time left of the race to get all lapped cars to do that so instead of letting the race run until the end under the safety car conditions, he let only the lapped cars inbetween Hamilton and Verstappen unlap themselves. Verstappen was on newer tires so was able to then overtake Hamilton and win the championship.
Another fan commented:
“Yes, thank you for doing your best to kill the sport #RedbullCheats”
Another one of the disgruntled fans wrote:
“Yeah you won’t forget how many trophies you’ve won but forget how much money your allowed to spend winning them!”
Red Bull dominated throughout the 2022 season with Verstappen taking the driver’s championship win at the Japanese Grand Prix, setting the record for number of race wins in a season with 15, and the team winning the constructor’s championship at the Austin Grand Prix.
