McLaren boss Zak Brown has written to the FIA, F1’s governing body, Formula One teams spending more than allowed is effective fraud and will face severe penalties sports and finance.
The The BBC reported details of the letter on Monday and McLaren confirmed they were right.
Championship leaders Red Bull, who won back-to-back drivers’ titles with Max Verstappen, cross the $145 million limit in 2021.
The FIA said on October 10 that it was a ‘small overspending’, or less than 5% of the total limit, but gave no details on the extent of involvement. Red Bull has said that their submission is below the cost cap.
Brown did not directly name Red Bull or Aston Martin, who are alleged to have breached the procedure, in the October 12 letter with copies sent to other teams that comply with financial regulations.
“A breach of overspending, and possibly a breach of procedure, constitutes fraud by providing a substantial advantage in technical, sporting and financial regulations,” he wrote.
“The bottom line is that any team that has overspended will gain an unfair advantage both in car development now and next year.
“We do not feel that a financial penalty alone would be an appropriate punishment for a serious overspending or procedural violation. It is clear that a sports penalty is needed in these circumstances. this, at the discretion of the FIA.”
Brown suggested a group of violators should cut their limit the year after the ruling with a penalty equal to overspending plus another fine — so overspending by $2 million in 2021. would mean $4 million less for 2023.
He added: “Additionally, we believe there should be small overspending sports penalties of 20% reduction in CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and time in the wind tunnel.
Brown also proposed changing the rules so that any second minor overspending violation automatically becomes a major overspend, and reducing the threshold from 5% to 2.5%.
Americans say the cost cap, introduced last year to help level the playing field, is a key factor in attracting new shareholders and investors to Formula One.
“It is therefore important that we be very adamant in implementing the rules of cost cap for the sake of the integrity and future of F1,” he wrote.
