McLaren CEO Makes a Bold Prediction for F1 Teams’ Budget Spending

With the Formula One budget cap in place, all 10 Formula One teams will have to be very smart about their expenditure. With just $175 million to play with, it will be interesting to see which team spends wisely and has it translate out on track. However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown made an interesting prediction.

He believes that at least half the grid will spend less than the budget cap when it comes into effect for the 2021 F1 season.

Admittedly, even though teams will be limited to a $175 million, some significant items will not be included, drivers’ salaries being one of them.

Speaking to RaceFans, he said, “I don’t think there’ll be much of a difference between us. I think Renault will probably race at the budget cap. So I think you’ll have five teams at the budget cap and five not.”

However, Brown was also of the opinion that omitting driver salaries from the budget cap goes against the principal of bringing in the measure in the first place.

He said: “It was a mistake to take the drivers out. Along with the car, they are a factor that determines the lap time. If they were part of the budget, the teams would have to decide to invest their money in the driver or the car.”

“That’s the point of a budget cap. The prize is for the one who uses their money the most sensibly.”

The McLaren boss was also thrilled to say that the team will have new sponsors for the 2020 season, continuing its recent push.

Speaking to the media in Austin, he said “Yep. We hit our numbers this year on our sponsor projections. I anticipate us hitting them again next year.”

“The car is gradually filling up, some great companies, but definitely we’ll have some great partners for next year, and everyone we have is staying.”