Brown admits: 'I don't believe that was intentional from Red Bull'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The introduction of the budget cap provides a learning experience for all teams. Indeed, money has to be handled differently. McLaren CEO Zak Brown admits that Red Bull Racing did not exceed the budget cap on purpose. McLaren itself has also experienced the difficulty of allocating resources properly.
In 2021, Formula 1 teams had to adhere to the budget cap for the first time. The cap was set at $145 million and many teams had to fire a lot of staff ahead of the new season.
Red Bull was found guilty earlier this season of exceeding the 2021 budget cap by $2.2 million. The team was penalised with a $7 million fine and a 10 per cent loss of wind tunnel time for next year. Meanwhile, McLaren was embroiled in a battle for fourth place in the constructors' championship with Alpine. The Woking-based team lost the battle after a double DNF in Brazil.
Budget cap a learning experience for all teams
McLaren is now analysing last season to see where it went wrong. The team is wondering whether they might have fired too many staff members ahead of the 2021 season. Speaking to The Race Brown tells the following: "Did we allocate our resources, our people, our time and attention in the right area? Was it simply a mistake that we collectively made? Or was the mistake [made with] resource allocation? That was all part of the learning, you go through, ‘where did we get it wrong?’ And it’s never one area."
"And I think we’re all learning [how to manage the cost cap]. Even with Red Bull’s breach – I don’t believe that was intentional", says the McLaren CEO. According to Brawn, getting the money within the budget cap right is a tough business, as every penny under it could have been spent.