McLaren's Zak Brown Says Ferrari Is In Denial Over Formula 1 Budget Caps

McLaren team executive, Zak Brown, claims that Ferrari is still in denial considering their opposition to plans to lower the budget cap of Formula 1.

He rejected claims by the Scuderia team principal, Mattia Biotto, that Formula 1 should not react in a hurry to COVID-19.

Brown said that he was almost at a loss to that response.

Most Formula 1 teams have already agreed to a $145 million cap per season, and it was due to come into effect in the 2021 season. The reason for the cap was sustainability concerns over how Formula 1 should be financially run following the coronavirus crisis.

Ferrari has been opposed to the cap from the onset and said it would dumb the sport down because that would mean having to lay off personnel. That is especially complicated for the team considering Italian employment legislation.

Half the current season races have already been postponed while all auto industry plants have wholly or partially shut down.

The resulting financial detriments to the motorsport and auto industry have not been calculated, but the effect will be staggering in the coming months.

Speaking to reporters on a Zoom call, Brown stated that everyone recognizes the world is going through the biggest crisis in modern times. Whole countries have shut down, so it would be a mistake not to hurry to address the issue.

Brown also aimed the Ferrari executive concerning a private settlement with the FIA. It followed an investigation into the engine of the team.

That was after Binotto claimed Scuderia had an ethical mandate to protect jobs.

Brown's comments come against the backdrop of significant financial developments from the owner of Formula 1, Liberty Media.

They announced recently they had taken several measures to give Formula 1 better liquidity so that it would be able to ride out the harsh economic conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

That would include paying the F1 Group excess of $1.4 billion. Greg Maffei, the liberty president, and CEO, added that some of the teams had been issued advances on their prize money payments.

Maffei stated that they want to make sure the teams are solvent as they are part of what is needed to race successfully in the coming years.

Brown mentioned that McLaren was not one of the teams to get these advances. He added that only shows the dire need experienced by the sport. He is glad to have come in and helped the team where he could.