Brown hammers 'in denial' Ferrari over stance on budget cap

McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown has called out Ferrari for its inflexible position on F1's budget cap cutback, insisting the Scuderia's arguments are contradictory and "don't stack up".

In the face of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on F1, teams have unanimously agreed to reduce next years' budget cap level from $175M to $150M.

But an acceleration of the sport's economic downturn has triggered more efforts to reduce costs and proposals to further reduce the cost cap threshold, with McLaren suggesting a contraction all the way to $100M!

However, Ferrari has so far opposed a reduction of the budget cap below $145M, arguing that any further cutback would force it to lay off workers at Maranello. But the Swiss also warned that a dumbed-down F1 would diminish its value.

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But Brown isn't buying Ferrari's rationale, the American insisting that the time has come for F1 to drastically lower its costs.

"We are in a situation where if Formula 1 goes by its old habits, we're all at extreme risk for the future of F1," Brown told the media on Thursday.

"And if we think forward and get with the times, we can not only survive what's going on right now, but I ultimately think the sport can can thrive and we all win.

"I'm all for a good healthy debate. But I think the comments that I'm being seen put forward don't stack up, contradict themselves, and don't accurately reflect what I think is reality."

Brown also took exception with Binotto's comments on F1 running the risk of "making bad decisions" if it rushed its decisions regarding a budget cap reduction.

The bewildered McLaren boss said Ferrari was "living in denial".

"I'm almost at a loss of what you say to that," said Brown. "I think we all recognise that in modern times we're going through the biggest crisis the world has seen.

"You have countries shut down. You have industries shut down, and to not be in a hurry to address what's going on, I think, is a critical mistake. It's living in denial!

"I think you would find pretty much every president or prime minister or CEO around the world is operating in a hurry to tackle this issue head on."

Brown insists McLaren has the support of the majority of F1's teams when it comes to the issue of lowering the budget cap by another couple of notches for 2021. But will it be enough to fend off Ferrari's clout?

"Ultimately that's one for the FIA and F1 to stand behind, but I don't believe they can hold back if there's enough of alignment and veto, if you'd like, over what's being proposed," concluded Brown.

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