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Red Bull budget-cap breach amounts to cheating, says McLaren boss

Details of leaked letter emerge on Monday and McLaren confirm they are correct

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown did not directly name Red Bull or Aston Martin. File photograph: Getty Images
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown did not directly name Red Bull or Aston Martin. File photograph: Getty Images
Mon Oct 17 2022 - 19:52

Formula One teams who spend more than allowed by the rules are effectively cheating and should face stiff sporting and financial penalties, McLaren boss Zak Brown has told the governing FIA [Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile].

The BBC reported details of the leaked letter on Monday and McLaren confirmed they were correct.

Championship leaders Red Bull, who won the drivers' title last year and this with Max Verstappen, breached the $145 million cap in 2021.

The FIA said on Octobter 10th that it was a “minor overspend”, or less than 5 per cent of the overall cap, but gave no details of how much was involved. Red Bull have said their submission was below the cost-cap limit.

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Brown did not directly name Red Bull or Aston Martin, who were deemed to have committed a procedural breach, in the letter dated October 12th with copies sent to those other teams who complied with the financial regulations.

"The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations," he wrote.

"The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development.

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“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.”

Brown suggested a team in breach should have their cap cut in the year after the ruling with a penalty equal to the overspend plus a further fine — so a $2 million overspend in 2021 would mean $4 million (€4 million) less for 2023.

“In addition, we believe there should be minor overspend sporting penalties of a 20 per cent reduction in CFD [computational fluid dynamics] and wind-tunnel time,” he added.

Brown also suggested changing the rules so any second minor overspending breach automatically became a major overspend and lowering the threshold from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

The American said the cost cap, introduced last year to help level the playing field, had been a key factor in attracting new shareholders and investors to Formula One.

“It is therefore critical that we be very firm on implementing the rules of the cost cap for the integrity and the future of F1,” he wrote.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022