McLaren Onboard with Cost Cap Concept of F1

McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, welcomed the concept of the cost cap which is being deliberated by F1 owners, Liberty Media. He feels the novel idea will help level the playing field and the team can gain back its long-lost glory in the sport.

“We would welcome the cost cap. We had a very productive meeting with F1”, said Brown. “I do think the current direction of travel of F1, if not changed, is a very difficult environment for independent racing teams.”

“Now what you have is Mercedes and Ferrari, who have two other team affiliations”, Brown said, referring to the customer teams- Williams and Force India for the Mercedes and the Sauber and Haas for the Ferrari.

The caveat of the cost cap is that team personnel will also see a cap set, which Brown felt will make the system more efficient. “Sitting here right now, I think we need to work better to work faster”, he said.

“I don’t think we need to take people out of the system”, added Brown. “I think what we are not doing is working at maximum capacity relative to the amount of human capital and resources that we have at our disposal.”

On the other hand, he was also of the opinion that the crew members do play a huge part in developing competitiveness. “You look at Mercedes and Ferrari, and they have 200, 300 more people than we do.”

“It’s very impressive what Haas has been able to do with their level of resources and human capital, I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Ferrari is as competitive as they are.”

“Fortunately, Liberty is going to be changing that direction in due course which gives us optimism for our future”, Brown said.

Though it has faced some opposition for the cost cap idea, the intent behind it is quite commendable from Liberty Media. A level playing field will ensure more competition on track across the board.