McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has warned rivals Red Bull and Ferrari could find themselves racing only against each other should they continue to put their own egotistical needs ahead of the best interests of the sport.
Last week Brown told the BBC there is strong agreement amongst most teams to see a reduction in next season’s budget cap from $150 million to $100 million to protect smaller teams from going under amid the coronavirus-induced economic aftershocks.
Now in an interview with Sky Sports F1, Brown has said that some of the top teams are refusing to accept the deal and warns that “they are playing with fire.”
“Without 10 teams, or at least nine teams, you don’t really have Formula 1,” Brown said.
“It’s really a couple of teams that need to be very careful, because I think they’re kind of playing with fire, so to speak.
“It takes a full grid to have a sport, so if they continue to have the sport be unsustainable and a couple of teams lose interest or financially are not able to participate any more, then they’re going to be racing against themselves, and that’s not going to work.”
While Brown did not specifically name Ferrari and Red Bull as the two teams that are not willingly to see a drop in the budget cap, he did go on to say:
“Daimler (Mercedes) has been doing an excellent job recognising the situation that we’re in, so you can deduct who the other two teams are.
“It’s a huge marketing platform for those two teams so I understand why they want to keep the fiscal balance where it is now.
“But in sport, you kind of want to think everyone can fight fairly and may the best team win.”