McLaren sees a realistic possibility of up to seven teams all fighting at the front in an “awesome era of Formula 1” from 2022.
Over the next two years, the sport will introduce its first-ever budget cap and follow it up with all-new cars in a bid to end not just Mercedes’ domination but give the current midfield teams an opportunity to fight higher up the grid.
McLaren has been one of those outfits who look to gain the most from the upcoming changes but CEO Zak Brown doesn’t think they’ll be alone.
“Ultimately our goal is to catch whoever’s in first place, and that’s been Mercedes for quite some time,” he was quoted by F1i.com.
“We’re certainly encouraged that we’re now racing Ferrari because we weren’t last year and haven’t been for quite some time.
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“I think in 2022, with this reset, for all of us it gives us a great opportunity,” the American added.
“That being said, Renault’s coming on strong, Racing Point is quick and just got a four-time world champion.
“While we want to catch the currently two teams in front of us now, I think we need to pay a lot of attention and recognise the four, five, six and even seven teams right now are all going to be serious contenders when the budget gap comes in.
“Everyone’s starting on a clean sheet of paper which, I think, then means we’re going to have an awesome era of Formula 1.”
The main reason why the McLaren chief is so optimistic is the levelling of the financial playing field with teams limited to $145m next year before dropping to $135m by 2023.
That is a massive $200m less than Mercedes spent on its F1 team last year, although some of the higher costs in that figures, salaries etc, are excluded in the new cap.
“We can use this to close the gap to the teams currently spending more than we do,” Brown explained. “But there will also be teams behind us who will be able to catch up with us.
“So in the future, we will have a sport in which more than half of the teams compete on a similar budget, that promises more variety.
“Nothing will change with which teams win the World Championship the most, that will make up four or five teams among themselves.
“I hope McLaren will be one of the four or five teams that can win the title. But there will be eight or nine teams that can win a chaotic race with a change of weather or a crash at the start.”