McLaren fans won’t be happy to hear that the team have stopped prioritizing developments for the 2022 season.
The introduction of budget caps into F1 has been controversial to say the least. Some teams like Alfa Romeo have been speaking for it since it’s inception, but the bigger teams like Red Bull and Mercedes and often spoken against.
McLaren is the latest victim of these budget constraints. To adhere to the $140 million limit, the Woking based outfit have been forced to stop any major development. Team principal Andreas Seidl confirmed this in an earlier interview as quoted by Motorsport.
“Hopefully it is not just us who had to pull the handbrake in terms of further developments,” he said. “But there are also the restrictions you have nowadays with further limited wind tunnel time, so you really need to be very careful with how you use your wind tunnel time.”
“The main thing at the moment is still to try to unlock more performance from the package we are having,” Seidl added.
Fans urge McLaren to act smartly with budget cap
The fact that McLaren were toe to toe with Ferrari just 12 months ago, makes this news even more concerning. On top of that, their start to 2022 hasn’t been optimal and a halt on developments will lead to further problems.
If the other midfield teams like Alpine or Alfa Romeo get in upgrades, McLaren fans may be in for even worse news now.
Fans on Twitter were not happy to see the team from Surrey give up so early into the season. Their disappointment was also directed towards the budget cap, and some went as far as asking for it to be removed.
McLaren and their star driver Lando Norris will take part in their home race next weekend. All teams and drivers travel to Silverstone for the 2022 British Grand Prix.
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