The rumour had been in the Formula 1 paddock for some weeks now, but it became official after the Japanese Grand Prix: Red Bull was confirmed to be the first team implicated in the new Formula 1 budget cap financial rules, as the Austrian side was found guilty of a ‘minor’ overspend breach beyond the $145 million limit for the previous championship.
The breach is not bigger than a maximum of five per-cent of that budget overspent, while Red Bull still insist they are covered in the budget cap and have not yet announced their next move, as they are still trying to discuss with the FIA about the ‘relevant costs’.
Ahead of the official confirmation, which was made by the FIA on Monday after the Suzuka race, Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes were already vocal on this matter, asking the governing body to impose significant penalties on teams which have not respected the budget cap rules, given the performance gain it could bring on track.
Now the chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown, has also joined Ferrari and Mercedes in outlining the penalties he would like to see imposed on teams that breach the Formula 1 cost cap. Zak Brown sent a letter a few days ago to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, in which he specified the types of penalties that should be levied towards Red Bull in order to uphold the reputation of Formula 1 for fans, media, shareholders and sponsors and all parties involved in the sport.
In the letter, Zak Brown explains that any “key learnings” following the first full year since the introduction of the budget cap rules need to be shared by the governing body with all teams in order to leave “no room for loopholes” to exploit in the future:
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
“It is paramount that the Cost Cap continues to be governed in a highly transparent manner, both in terms of the details of any violations and related penalties,” wrote the McLaren chief executive officer – “It will also be important to understand if, after the first full year of running and investigating the scheme, there needs to be further clarity on certain matters or any key learnings. Again, any insights or learnings should be shared across ALL teams – there can be no room for loopholes.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has repeatedly stated that any breach of the cost cap should be treated as a “heavyweight offence,” while Ferrari Sporting Director Laurent Mekies demanded “decisive action” to be taken by the FIA in order to make sure no team gains an advantage.
In his letter, the McLaren CEO highlights the several infractions that have been made by teams so far, and feels ‘procedural breaches’ which were committed by Aston Martin and Williams also “constitute [as] cheating.”
“One team was guilty of a minor overspend breach plus a procedural breach, and two further teams also in procedural breach. The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting, and financial regulations.” A financial penalty alone is not enough for these violations. A sporting penalty must clearly be imposed by the FIA.” – the McLaren CEO added.
Zak Brown feels that teams should expect their budget cap to be reduced for the next F1 campaign by at least double the amount which was overspent in 2021:
“We suggest that the overspend should be penalised by way of a reduction to the team’s cost cap in the year following the ruling and the penalty should be equal to the overspend plus a further fine. I.e. an overspend of $2M in 2021, which is identified in 2022, would result in a $4M deduction in 2023 ($2M to offset the overspend plus $2M fine). For context $2M is 25 – 50% upgrade to annual car development budget and hence would have a significant positive and long- lasting benefit.” – he wrote.
However, the penalty should not only be limited to financial aspects, according to Zak Brown, who feels that Red Bull should be hit with less time available in the wind tunnel for aerodynamics development:
“There should be minor overspend sporting penalties of a 20% reduction in CFD and wind tunnel time. These should be enforced in the following year, to mitigate against the unfair advantage the team has and will continue to benefit from.” – he concluded.
In order to make sure that this situation does not repeat itself in the next seasons, the McLaren CEO believes that it would be better for any “minor breach” committed to be judged as a “major breach” and also that the value for the overspend amount should drop from 5% to 2.5%.
Leave a Reply