F1 continues to tear itself apart over the case of Red Bull, the team of the brand new double world champion Max Verstappen.
After Ferrari and Mercedes, Zak Brown, the boss of McLaren, has written a letter to the governing body of the FIA in which he claims that the Red Bull team's budget overrun in 2021 “constitutes cheating”.
This "minor" violation of the rules was revealed by the body itself on October 10, but the latter says it is still "determining the course of action to be adopted".
Coming into force last year, the cap was set at $145 million for this inaugural season, marked by Verstappen's first world title against Lewis Hamilton.
We do not yet know the excess budget established by the FIA but Zak Brown is calling for exemplary financial and sporting sanctions.
A ceiling introduced in 2020 to reduce inequalities
"Any team that went over budget gained an unfair advantage in both the current year's car development and the following year's," he wrote.
Mr Brown adds that the FIA should “communicate ensuing actions and penalties as they go along in order to maintain the integrity of F1”.
The letter, viewed by BBC Sport and sent on October 12, is addressed to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, with a copy to F1 President Stefano Domenicali.
It was also sent on Monday to several other teams which besides McLaren have not committed a cost cap breach: Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, Alfa Romeo and Haas (Aston Martin is also accused of going over budget while Williams was penalized for reporting late, editor's note).
The decision to introduce maximum spending for teams in a season was taken in 2020 with the aim of reducing budget gaps between big and small teams and improving competition.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were particularly affected.
It was then planned to reduce the amount by $5 million per season for 2022 and 2023.
Initially set for 2022 at $140 million, the ceiling was however raised by 3.1% due to inflation.
Several types of expenses are excluded, including driver salaries and team marketing activities.
A very wide panel of sanctions
The FIA establishes in its statutes two types of infringement - minor below 5% of the ceiling, or major beyond 5%.
In the first case, which concerns Red Bull, the arsenal of sanctions available to the federation remains very wide: simple reprimand or financial fine, reduction of the team's maximum budget, including withdrawal of points in the drivers' championship and /or manufacturers or limitations on the conduct of aerodynamic tests.
“We continue to believe that the relevant expenses are below the ceiling allocated in 2021”, defended Red Bull on October 10.
If the two parties fail to reach an agreement or if the committee in charge of compliance with the financial rules is not in favor of reaching an agreement, it may entrust the dispute to a panel of six to 12 judges elected by the FIA General Assembly.