McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown Writes a Scathing Letter to The FIA Amid Budget Cap Drama, Accuses Red Bull of ‘Cheating’

Amid the growing drama surrounding the budget cap issue in the F1 community, it seems McLaren boss, Zak Brown, has a bone to pick with the FIA. He lately wrote a formal letter addressing his displeasure regarding the breach of rules.

As Red Bull was declared guilty of a ‘minor’ breach of the budget rules, Brown believes that the penalties must be relevant to the unfair advantage the team has held this season. Zak emphasizes that the overspending benefits Red Bull with car improvements this year and the upcoming year, which gives them an unfair advantage. Ergo, they should be penalized financially as well as on track.

Brown believes that it is only fair to take the right measures to correct the mistake, as a breach of this nature constitutes as cheating and should be taken seriously. He wrote an official letter addressing the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and copied to the F1 president, Stefano Domenicali.

The letter was also sent to the other teams that were diligent with following the rules and weren’t guilty of any kind of breach. These included Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine, Alfa Romeo, and Haas.

The letter read, “Any team who have overspent have gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year’s car development. The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year’s car development.”

“The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations”

Read More: McLaren F1 Legend Suspects Max Verstappen Will Turn His Back on Red Bull – Here’s Why

“We suggest that the overspend should be penalized 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,” wrote the American.

McLaren boss Zak Brown demands transparency from the FIA

As a team boss that sincerely adhered to the rules, Zak Brown demands the FIA to come clean and be transparent about the extent of the breach that did take place. He believes that the FIA owes it to all the teams to showcase utmost transparency, so everyone can be on the same page.

Brown further said, “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.”

He also stressed that the budget cap rule is the reason a lot of new investors have come into the picture for the F1 community and, therefore, firmly executing the rules is paramount to the sport.

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How do you think will the FIA go about this situation? What, according to you, is fair play?