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Controversy overshadowed Red Bull’s double world championship triumph last year when they were found to be guilty of a minor overspend breach of the 2021 F1 budget cap – the first year such regulations were enforced.

Red Bull were fined £6m and docked 10% of their car development time – yet there is now concern growing amongst the paddock about last year’s sums, which were submitted to the FIA on 31 March.

As a result of the tough economic climate and inflation, Horner revealed that as many as six teams have made it known at F1 Commission meetings that they are at risk of missing the 2022 cost-cap figure, which stands at £111m.

“A danger for 2022 is that there could be six teams in breach of the cap,” said Horner, as last season drew to a close. “Energy prices have been exponential, but thankfully we’ve been protected from that.

Lewis Hamilton admits it could be a “long time” until Mercedes catch Red Bull this season with the reigning world champions dominant in the opening three races of the 2023 campaign.

The seven-time F1 world champion, who has not won a race since December 2021 in Saudi Arabia, was on the podium for the first time this season in Australia three weeks’ ago.

But Max Verstappen, who coasted to last season’s World Championship, won in Melbourne – adding to his opening-race victory in Bahrain – while his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was victorious in the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia.

It means Perez – currently second in the standings – looks set to be Verstappen’s closest challenger this season, with the rapid RB19 at times lapping a second quicker than the rest of the field.

Hamilton, whose contract at Mercedes expires at the end of the season, was not overly optimistic about Mercedes’ chances of hauling in Red Bill’s hefty advantage.

Eddie Jordan has labelled the Formula 1 cost cap process a ‘farce’ and insists Red Bull ‘got around’ the rules given their superiority in the sport currently.

Red Bull, who won both world championships last year and the Drivers’ title in 2021, were found guilty of a minor overspend of the 2021 budget cap regulations – the first year such restrictions have been imposed on teams.

Red Bull have won three out of three races at the start of 2023 and look set to dominate for the second year running, with their rapid RB19 at times lapping a second quicker than the rest of the field on raceday.

Jordan, who founded his own F1 team and was also a pundit on BBC’s coverage of the sport from 2009-2015, slammed the sport’s financial regulations and insists they have not had the “desired effect.”

Daniel Ricciardo revealed he is “full steam ahead” with a new scripted F1 series – and casting will begin “pretty soon.”

The Australian, who was dropped by McLaren at the end of last year, is not on the Formula 1 grid in 2023 and instead occupies a third driver role at world champions Red Bull.

One such activity has been the creation of a new scripted F1 series on American streaming service and Disney-owned platform Hulu, which was first announced last June.

Ricciardo, one of the stars of Netflix’s behind-the-scenes F1 documentary Drive to Survive, will be the executive producer of the as-of-yet unnamed show.

A virtual hearing started this morning at 8am (BST), with the stewards from the race in Melbourne present for the appeal process.

Ferrari were hopeful that Sainz’s five-second time penalty – which consequently dropped him from fourth to 12^th and out of the points – would be overturned.

However, the FIA noted “no significant and relevant new element” to prompt a new hearing into the incident.

With modifications to the sprint weekend format likely to come into force next week in Azerbaijan, Verstappen said at the last race in Australia that he wasn’t sure how long he’d continue in the sport if modifications to the race weekend are made.

Verstappen, who has a £40m-a-year contract with Red Bull until 2028, has stated in the past his dislike of sprint races.

A two-time F1 world champion at 25, Verstappen currently leads this year’s World Championship by 15 points and while Horner admits the Dutchman is unlikely to continue in the sport as long as 41-year-old Fernando Alonso, the Red Bull team principal believes he will continue to race while that “passion burns within him.”

“Max is his own man and he’s very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life,” Horner told Sky Sports News.

The Brit was speaking ahead of this weekend’s Berlin E-Prix double-header, which marks the start of European leg of the World Championship.

The German capital follows an exhilarating past few rounds, which included three debut races in a row for the all-electric racing series with the Hyderabad, Cape Town and Julius Baer São Paulo E-Prix.

São Paulo featured 114 overtakes in total and delivered the most lead changes in Formula E history, with it changing three times in a single lap on two occasions.

That followed the fastest lap in Formula E history in Cape Town, with Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz averaging 154.987kph, with the series’ sub-Saharan African debut also its fastest race at an average speed of 132.199kph. It also means nine races in a row – a Formula E record – the polesitter has been overtaken to lose the race.

Such stats underline the competitiveness of Formula E, and for Ticktum the series’ unparalleled unpredictability is down to the strength of its drivers.

“I think pretty much every driver bar a couple could easily be in Formula 1,” he said.

Michael Schumacher’s family are planning legal action against a German weekly magazine over an ‘interview’ with the seven times Formula One champion that was generated by artificial intelligence.

A spokesperson for the Schumacher family, when asked for a comment, pointed to published reports of legal action.

The Ferrari great has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.

The family has guarded his privacy since, with access limited to those closest to him and little information given about his condition.

Lewis Hamilton admits it could be a “long time” until Mercedes catch Red Bull this season with the reigning world champions dominant in the opening three races of the 2023 campaign.

The seven-time F1 world champion, who has not won a race since December 2021 in Saudi Arabia, was on the podium for the first time this season in Australia three weeks’ ago.

But Max Verstappen, who coasted to last season’s World Championship, won in Melbourne – adding to his opening-race victory in Bahrain – while his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was victorious in the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia.

It means Perez – currently second in the standings – looks set to be Verstappen’s closest challenger this season, with the rapid RB19 at times lapping a second quicker than the rest of the field.

Hamilton, whose contract at Mercedes expires at the end of the season, was not overly optimistic about Mercedes’ chances of hauling in Red Bill’s hefty advantage.

Today, Silverstone announced an unprecedented music line-up for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2023.

One of the biggest artists, DJs and producers in the world, Calvin Harris, will headline the event for the first time ever, alongside Jess Glynne and Cat Burns for the best of British launch party on Thursday night.

Festival powerhouses Jax Jones (Friday), Black Eyed Peas (Saturday) and Tom Grennan (Sunday) will headline the remaining weekend slots, with support acts still to be announced.

The new-look music offering will see Silverstone deliver four gigantic evenings of live music and entertainment at no extra cost to existing ticket holders.