Dutch Supermarket chain “Jumbo” , which is facing money laundering allegations is one of the major sponsors of Red Bull Racing .
Jumbo has recently announced that it has withdrawn most of the motorsport sponsorships .
Red Bull was fined a hefty amount of $7million last season for a breach of cost cap and their permitted wind tunnel time reduced by 10% .Jumbo’s recent announcement means that Red Bull will have to find another sponsor .
Wind Tunnel Time issue :
As Red Bull has won the 2022 F1 Constructors’ championship , they will receive the least time as per the sliding scale .
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko in a recent interview to SerVus TV said , “We are of course sitting with this reduction of hours in the wind tunnel. That means we have to work very efficiently as a team.All the things we try out have to hit the mark immediately.
“But fortunately the technical changes for next year are not that big. It means we have a good basic package.
“The team also stays together and Max is still getting slightly better. As a result, we can go into the new season cautiously optimistic.
“We have a tradition at Red Bull that we don’t really finish the car until the very last moment. But the concept of the car is already there. We can indeed build on a very successful 2022 car.”
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is also hopeful of overcoming the wind tunnel restriction . He said , “If any team can cope with wind tunnel restriction, it is Red Bull.
“What we have lost in wind tunnel time, we have gained in motivation and I think that we have just got to get on with it, get our heads down and do the very best job that we can.”