McLaren boss Zak Brown has taken aim at Red Bull by reportedly accusing them of cheating in their breach of the budget cap. Last week, the FIA revealed Christian Horner and co were found guilty of a "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 wrote a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, which was also seen by F1 president Stefano Domenicali, to make his feelings known and demanded heavy punishment. "Any team who have overspent have gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development," Brown wrote, reports the BBC.
He added the FIA should "communicate subsequent action and penalties at pace to maintain the integrity of F1". Red Bull were found guilty of a "minor" breach of the cap, as well as a procedural breach, the latter of which Aston Martin was also found guilty.
Brown’s letter also read: “The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations.
"The FIA has run an extremely thorough, collaborative and open process. We have even been given a one-year dress rehearsal (in 2020), with ample opportunity to seek any clarification if details were unclear. So, there is no reason for any team to now say they are surprised.
"The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development. 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." 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 added. "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."
