Red Bull should be penalized for 'cheating' in 2021 F1 cost-cap rules, opines McLaren

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has suggested a way to penalize Red Bull and any other team that breached the F1 cost cap in a letter to the FIA. In his letter, he stated that if a team has 'cheated,' it should be given a sporting penalty which would restrict it from developing in the upcoming year.

The BBC quoted his letter, stating:

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

The FIA brought in a budget or "cost" cap last year, which restricted the teams from spending more money than the specified limit on their car or the team. The cap last year was set at $145 million, which has changed, and will be revised every season. All teams were expected to stay under the cap as a means for smaller teams to catch up with the rest.

After the FIA revised last year's budgets for all teams, Red Bull and Aston Martin were found to have breached the cap. While Aston Martin's breach was only "procedural," Red Bull had a 'minor' breach of $7.25 million. The latter subsequently released a statement refusing any breach of this kind and claimed to be exploring options to refute this.

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McLaren boss demands a sporting penalty for Red Bull

Speculation is rife that Red Bull will only be given a monetary fine. Teams have spoken up against this, with Zak Brown, in his letter to FIA, demanding a sporting penalty instead of a financial one.

In his letter, Brown further stated:

"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."

Brown suggested that the overspending should be penalized in a way that reduces the team's cost cap for the following year. He also called for the penalty to be equal to the overspending. He believes this will stop the team from spending a bigger amount in the upcoming season and in turn, develop less than others. He stated:

"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."

McLaren are not the only team that has been unsatisfied with only a financial penalty on Red Bull. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had earlier warned that if a fine is the only penalty a team has to serve for breaching the cost cap, then his team will also be overspending on their car in the next season.