“Some more technical freedom,” Zak Brown wishes to see “favorable changes” after the introduction of budget cap in F1
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McLaren's CEO, Zak Brown
Zak Brown, the McLaren CEO, has recently shed light on the introduction of the budget cap in F1 and indicated that he wants to see relaxation in the technical regulations.
The concept of the budget cap was introduced in the year 2021, and teams are now expected to operate within the limit, that is set before the start of an F1 season.
The various F1 teams are now, not allowed, to spend more than a set limit on car development during a season, although there are a few exceptions related to the top three earners on a particular team.
In 2021, F1 teams were allowed to spend $145 million which was gradually reduced to $140 million before the start of the 2022 campaign.
However, the limit was raised mid-season by 3.1 percent to account for the rise in inflation and spike in energy costs.
Now that the cap concept has established itself well in the sport, Zak Brown wants to see more freedom to be given to the F1 teams.
Zak Brown’s take on giving more technical freedom to F1 teams
Ever since the concept of the budget cap made its way into F1, the landscape of the sport has got somewhat changed, as now the top teams are not allowed to splash money recklessly during a season.
While Brown is pleased with the sport’s direction, he has added, “If you’ve got a cost cap, then there should actually be some more technical freedom within the cost cap, you would then see more innovations and risk-taking and the cars would look even more different.”
“If you have the cap, then you’ve kind of got two [guidelines] as ‘Everything has to look exactly like that and you can’t spend more than that.”
“Just stop with the spending and do [what] you want, I think you would bring out more innovation, and everyone would learn from each other.”
“It was like when Brawn did the double diffuser [in 2009], they got a great head start, but by the end of the year, it was balanced out, so I think you could get that. That’s the fascinating part of the sport.“
Zak Brown has made some very interesting points about the budget cap scenario in the sport and looking at some of his statements, he is very much on point.
F1 is growing as a sport year after year, and fans want to see competitive racing as much as possible, considering all this, it would be a sensible ploy if F1 allows for more technical freedom in the future years.
However, the whole process of getting everything in place is a lengthy one and could take some time to come to fruition.
Would it make sense to you if F1 teams are given more freedom around the technical aspect of the sport?
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)