McLaren boss Zak Brown has outlined exactly how the FIA should punish Red Bull for breaching the F1 cost cap budget. Last week the FIA revealed Christian Horner and co were found guilty of “minor” budget cap breach and the American has called for penalties that will hit Red Bull financially and on the track.
The 50-year-old penned a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, which was also sent to F1 president Stefano Domenicali, to make his feelings known and demanded they suffer consequences for their actions. “Any team who have overspent have gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year’s car development,” Brown wrote. He added the FIA should “communicate subsequent action and penalties at pace to maintain the integrity of F1”.
The American continued: “We don’t feel a financial penalty alone would be a suitable penalty for an overspend breach or a serious procedural breach. There clearly needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA. 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 – ie 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 (a) 25-50% upgrade to (an) annual car-development budget and hence would have a significant positive and long-lasting benefit. In addition, we believe 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.”
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McLaren team principal Zak Brown sent a letter to the FIA saying Red Bull should be punished
Brown also called for changes to the rules to combat any loopholes in the cost cap system and suggested the FIA should release details of any offences as soon as possible. “To avoid teams accumulating and benefiting from the multiplier effect of several minor overspend breaches, we suggest that a second minor overspend breach automatically moves the team to a major breach,” he wrote.
“Finally, given the financials involved, a 5% threshold for a minor overspend breach seem far too large of a variance. We suggest a lower threshold, 2.5%, is more appropriate. 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.
“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.”
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McLaren boss Zak Brown wants to see Christian Horner and Red Bull punished
In the wake of his team’s minor cost cap breach, Red Bull boss Christian Horner warned F1 bosses that the manufacturer would spend ‘an extra 10 percent’ of whatever budget was introduced. Red Bull are yet to learn their punishment after being found guilty of committing a ‘minor’ breach for the 2021 season, with penalties ranging from fines to points deductions.
The Red Bull principal was against the price cap and back in 2020 and wrote a column on the Red Bull website suggesting they would breach any budget set. “The problem is, so much is made about the figure of the cost cap that I believe it is missing the point,” he said. “F1 teams will always spend whatever budget they have available to them. Plus an extra 10 percent. It is impossible to compare the spending of Ferrari to Haas, of Mercedes to Racing Point or even from Red Bull to AlphaTauri. They are all completely different structures and business models.
“I fully support the need to reduce costs and ensure that all 10 teams remain in the sport but there are many ways to accomplish that goal and they are not all just about lowering the cost cap.” Following the news, Red Bull released a statement claiming they were shocked and saddened by the findings and claimed they will consider the options available to them moving forward.
Keyword: McLaren chief tells FIA exact 'sporting penalty' to inflict on Red Bull in leaked letter