McLaren seeks 'sporting penalty’ on Red Bull, terms Formula 1 cost cap breach as cheating

F1 championship leader Red Bull continues to face heat from teams down the grid for breaching the Formula 1 budget cap during the 2021 season. As reported by Metro, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has called for sporting and financial penalties on the teams who spent more than what was allowed by the motorsports governing body, FIA. The McLaren boss didn’t mention the names of Red Bull and Aston Martin, yet termed the cost-cap breach as ‘cheating’.

Red Bull were found to have breached the cost cap during 2021 season

Last week, FIA revealed that Red Bull breached the cost cap during Max Verstappen’s maiden championship-winning season in 2021. FIA termed it as a minor overspend, which was less than five percent of the overall budget. However, the governing body didn’t mention any details about how much money was overspent by Red Bull.

On the other hand, Red Bull have previously said that their submission was below the cost-cap limit. In a letter dated 12, Red Bull and Aston Martin were told to have committed a procedural breach. A copy of the letter was sent to other teams in the grid, who were within the budget cap.

‘Any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage’: McLaren CEO Zak Brown

Meanwhile, as per Metro, while shedding his thoughts on the budget cap breach, Zak Brown said, “The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations. 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. There needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA.”

Brown further added that the cost cap, which was introduced last year in order to level the competition has been a key factor behind new shareholders and investors, marching into F1. Red Bull could be stripped of Verstappen’s maiden drivers' championship win as a result of breaching the cost cap. The F1 grid is currently gearing up for the United States Grand Prix 2022 at the Circuit of the Americas, scheduled to be held this weekend.