Brown backs Liberty's F1 cost cap

Zak Brown believes a proposed cost cap, to be introduced to Formula 1 in 2021, would help make McLaren a competitive team again. Ferrari and Mercedes have spoken out against a reported $150million budget limit, but Brown sees it as a route back to glory for his failing team.

A switch to Renault engines after three poor years with Honda did not deliver an immediate turnaround for McLaren, who have lost race director Eric Boullier to resignation and removed chief technical officer Tim Goss in recent months.

McLaren have fallen behind the likes of Haas and Force India after a promising start to 2018, both have strong links to Ferrari and Mercedes respectively, and Brown believes the new cost cap will prevent the top teams from exploiting these relationships to pull further clear.

"We welcome the cost cap. We had a very productive meeting with Formula 1," Brown said.

"I do think the current direction of travel of Formula 1, if not changed, is a very difficult environment for independent racing teams. Now what you have is Mercedes and Ferrari, who have two other team affiliations.

"So while it's very impressive what Haas has been able to do with their level of resources and human capital, I also don't think it's a coincidence that Ferrari is as competitive as they are. I think that relationship has gone both ways in terms of benefitting each other.

"So if the sport goes down the path of unlimited budgets and partnering up, that's what you need to do to be competitive.

"Fortunately, Liberty is going to be changing that direction in due course which gives us optimism for our future."

He added: "You look at Mercedes and Ferrari, and they have 200, 300 more people than we do.

"Sitting here right now, I think we need to work better to work faster. I don't think we need to take people out of the system.

"I think what we are not doing is working at maximum capacity relative to the amount of human capital and resources that we have at our disposal."