McLaren not satisfied with Red Bull penalty: 'FIA needs to be more strict'

It has finally been revealed how the budget cap saga surrounding Red Bull Racing will end. Besides a $7 million fine, the team will get 10 per cent less time in the wind tunnel for the next 12 months. Some think the penalty is far too light, others too heavy. McLaren is already letting us know its position.

Andreas Seidl is happy that a line has been drawn under the issue. The McLaren team boss will not comment on what he thinks of the punishment but mainly hopes that the sanctions do their job. "You can argue about the level of the penalty, everyone will never agree on that. For the sport, it was good to see that the FIA does not just let sinners go," he is quoted by Auto, Motor und Sport.

McLaren is not satisfied with punishment Red Bull

Seidl, therefore, hopes the penalty is a sufficient deterrent so that Formula 1 teams will not try to exceed the cost cap in the future. Colleague Zak Brown, as usual, is more outspoken on the issue. "If the FIA is to be most effective and its punishments serve as a lesson to others when rules are broken in this way, the sanctions have to be much stronger in the future," said the McLaren CEO to BBC.

Brown does hope that lessons will be learned from the process and he hopes that all teams now "have a clear understanding of the rules". "While we are pleased to see them act, we would hope the FIA takes stronger action in future against those that willfully break the rules," the American said.