LONDON • McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has accused Ferrari of being in denial about the existential threat Formula One faces from the coronavirus pandemic, as arguments heat up over how much teams should be allowed to spend.
The motor sport is introducing a budget cap next year, but while the teams have agreed on US$145 million (S$206.6 million), McLaren and others are seeking a further drop to around US$100 million.
With the first nine races of this season already cancelled or postponed and several others in doubt, F1 held a meeting last week to discuss reducing the cap for the next two years, but could not reach an agreement.
Sources suggested that Ferrari and another big-spending team, Red Bull, opposed the changes.
Scuderia team principal Mattia Binotto told The Guardian on Thursday that now was "not the time to react in a hurry" and make hasty decisions without assessing the consequences.
The Italian hinted that Ferrari might have to "look at other further options" if next year's cap was lowered, although the team later issued a statement, clarifying he meant they would need additional outlets to express their "racing DNA".
Brown told reporters he was flabbergasted by Binotto's comments, insisting Ferrari's arguments were contradictory and did not stack up.
"I'm almost at a loss what you say to that," the American told reporters via videoconferencing platform Zoom.
"We all recognise that in modern times we are going through the biggest crisis the world has seen.
"It's living in denial and I think you would find pretty much every president or prime minister or CEO around the world was operating in a hurry to tackle this issue head-on.
"To take our time is a very poor leadership strategy."
Brown, who has warned F1 risks losing as many as four of its 10 teams if the crisis is not handled correctly, added that he would hate to see Ferrari follow through on any quit threats but the sport would survive with only 18 cars.
The calls for an even lower budget cap has been borne out of the need for most teams to not only save costs amid the Covid-19 crisis, but also as a means of ensuring a more level playing field.
F1 is facing a significant loss of revenue as it is increasingly likely that no racing will take place before July and even if grands prix are conducted before then, they will be behind closed doors.
As such, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes the sport has missed a trick by not pushing back the already delayed rules revolution from 2022 to 2023.
However, he claimed that Ferrari put up resistance because their current car is not competitive.
"I'd have pushed the rules a further year back into 2023," Horner told Sky Sports. "But if you're a team, for example, Ferrari saying, 'Yeah from a cost point of view, we get it, we agree, but our car might not be that competitive, we want a clean sheet of paper'."
But he stood alongside Ferrari in his opposition to a lowered budget cap, adding: "If we restrict costs excessively, then we run the risk of reducing the level considerably, bringing it ever closer to the lower formulae."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
