McLaren want more flexibility when it comes to car development as chief executive Zak Brown pointed out a problem in the Formula 1 cost cap era.
This season was the second in which each team had to adhere to a strict budget. As proven by the punishment received by Red Bull for overspending in 2021, the FIA is prepared to hand out financial and sporting penalties to anyone who exceeds the cap.
As well as that rule, the teams also have to comply with the sport's technical regulations, which heavily restrict what they are allowed to do in terms of their car design. Now they are hampered by a budget as well, McLaren chief Brown wants to see a little more leeway in the technical rules.
"If you've got a cost cap, then there should actually be some more technical freedom within the cost cap," asserted the American. "You would then see more innovations and risk taking and the cars would look even more different.
"If you have the cap, then you've kind of got two [guidelines] as 'everything has to look exactly like that' and 'you can't spend more than that'. Just stop with the spend and do [what] you want.
"I think you would bring out more innovation, and everyone would learn from each other. It was like when Brawn did the double diffuser [during the 2009 season], they got a great head start. But by the end of the year, it was balanced out, so I think you could get that. That's the fascinating part of the sport."
Amid the rising cost of living affecting everyone, there have been suggestions it will be difficult for many teams to comply with the cost cap in 2022. Christian Horner recently hypothesised that as many as six teams could overspend this year.
He did not discuss McLaren's chances of going over budget this year, but Brown added that it had been a close-run thing for his team in 2021. "It's nerve-racking because you want to get as close to the cap as possible," he said.
"If you have an accident or something or something goes wrong [then you could be over], but we did the dry run [in 2020] – our CFO had many clarifications and opportunities to ask questions and we did a lot. Federico [Lodi, head of financial regulations at F1] and the FIA did an excellent job. There was clarity and it was kind of when in doubt, ask the question."
