McLaren trust FIA to close design 'short-cuts' - Zak Brown

McLaren

McLaren trust FIA to close design 'short-cuts' - Brown

"You need to design, build, manufacture your own race car" believe McLaren

Sam Hall

Friday 18 December 2020 14:14

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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has faith the FIA will ensure teams work as "independent entities" and do not "inherit" the work of others in future years.

McLaren was among a number of teams that included Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Haas, Renault and Williams who registered concerns over the design process behind the Racing Point RP20 ahead of the season.

The car bore such a striking resemblance to the 2019 title-winning machine the team was dubbed 'Tracing Point' and the car nicknamed 'The Pink Mercedes'.

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An FIA investigation into the rear brake ducts ruled the parts had not been wholly designed by Racing Point and were predominantly the work of Mercedes for which the team was docked 15 constructors' points and handed a €400,000 fine.

With regard to the future, Brown said: "It’s clearly a competitive advantage for the teams that are passing along that information or those parts, both financially, sporting and politically.

"At the same time, the teams that are on the receiving end are able to short-cut and inherit the work of others. There are many teams doing it now. We’ll just have to monitor the situation.

"I think the FIA has stated their intent is everyone should be their own independent entity.

"So that’s how McLaren wants to go racing, will continue to go racing. But hey, this is Formula 1. It’s tough and so you’ve got to beat everyone within what the rules are."

With Haas strengthening its ties with Ferrari, and Red Bull and AlphaTauri already enjoying a strong relationship, Brown said the example of Mercedes and Racing Point proved how the concept works "at the extreme".

McLaren, although entering into a power unit partnership with Mercedes for next year, has no ties linking it to another team.

But Brown added he hopes the FIA "define the boundaries" of what is permissible under the regulations.

"I think we’ve seen, at the extreme, what it’s capable of producing," said Brown.

"I think we feel strongly that it’s a constructors’ championship: you need to design, build, manufacture your own race car. That’s what all the men and women at McLaren do.

"I think McLaren continues to monitor the situation and we need to kind of rely on them to define what those boundaries are."