Recently, McLaren CEO Zak Brown made a veiled statement against the top F1 teams for demanding a budget increase to accommodate sprint qualifying. Sprint races are the latest addition to an F1 race weekend, which will be staged three times in the 2021 season at Silverstone, Italy and Brazil. During these races on Saturday, the starting position for the Grand Prix will be decided over a distance of almost 100 km.
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After quite successful results from this new format, F1 has planned to hold sprint races at six venues in the 2022 calendar.
Recent updates indicate that Mercedes and Red Bull are committed to an additional $5 million budget cap to cover any damage that will occur during sprint qualifying. However, McLaren CEO Brown does not approve of this action.
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Formula One F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – December 10, 2021 Mercedes Executive Director Toto Wolff and Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner pose at the Team Principals press conference the hand FIA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALE. NO ARCHIVES
He believes teams don’t want to give up their pocket advantage over others on the starting lineup.
Mercedes and Red Bull are committed to increasing the budget ceiling
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Formula 1’s budget cap will be reduced by $5 million to a total of $140 million in 2022. However, recent reports suggest that the top teams are committed to keeping the cap like last season. And the reason they cite is an increase in the number of sprint races.
Zak Brown was in all-out attack mode in his recent column on McLaren’s website. “F1’s Saturday Sprint Racing initiative has attracted new audiences and raised the sport’s profile to expand its global fan base,” said Brown.
“However, these teams continue to ask for an excessive amount of money to be raised in the cost cap, despite clear evidence that little damage was sustained during these last year’s races, in a thinly veiled attempt to guard against the erosion of their competitive advantage. ” he added.
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The F1 community expects the number of sprint races to continue to increase in 2023. In the coming period, this debate will change many faces as the insiders have voiced their concerns. What do you think of introducing more sprint races to the F1 calendar?
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