“It was disappointing to see breaches” - McLaren boss takes shot at Red Bull and Aston Martin

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has taken a fresh swipe at Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin over their Formula 1 budget cap breach.

The FIA, global motorsport’s governing body, penalized Red Bull for exceeding F1’s team budget cap of £118.036 million during the 2021 season by £432,652. The team were fined $7 million and given a 10% reduction in Restricted Wind Tunnel Testing and Restricted Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) limits.

Aston Martin were also fined $450,000 for a “procedural breach” of the cost cap.

Zak Brown brought the issue to light once again with a thinly-veiled message in an open letter ahead of the 2023 F1 season. He said:

"Last year featured a significant change to the regulations, and it will take time for the gap to reduce between the front and the back of the grid. And the closeness of the competition will continue to be assisted by the budget cap."

He added:

"While it was disappointing to see breaches of the cap last year, everyone involved has learned from the process and it’s important to see the sport is moving forward in this regard. I trust there won’t be a repeat of these financial breaches in 2023."

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McLaren chief Zak Brown expresses excitement to work with rookie Oscar Piastri alongside Lando Norris

In the same letter, Zak Brown stated that new signing Oscar Piastri is eager to achieve success for the team while driving alongside Lando Norris.

Piastri moved to McLaren at the end of the 2022 season when he replaced Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian rookie is a former Formula 3 and Formula 2 champion and joins McLaren with high expectations.

Brown welcomed Piastri to the team, saying:

"I’m very excited to welcome our rookie Oscar Piastri to our F1 team. The Australian comes to McLaren with an impressive CV, having won both the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships. In the short time he has had to integrate with our team personnel in the factory, Oscar has already shown his commitment to us and is very determined to succeed on the race track."

He added:

"Partnered with our ‘veteran’ Lando Norris, I’m in no doubt we have the best young driver line-up in Formula 1."