LONDON, England - Ferrari recently denied in a news report that it was the biggest spender in Formula 1. McLaren now says the most financially powerful team is actually Red Bull.
Like Ferrari, Red Bull denies this, but McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists "everyone knows" that the energy drink-owned team - the dominant F1 champion for the previious four consecutive seasons - spends the most.
In fact, Whitmarsh said, the "meteoric level of spending" had "distorted the sport" and his counterpart Christian Horner's claim that Red Bull did not spend the most was "just rubbish".
'KILLING THE SHOW'
"You'll see that's just rubbish but everybody knows that and they know it as well," Whitmarsh was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. Horner, however, said rival teams, and F1 fans who were claiming Red Bull was making the racing boring, were just "frustrated".
One of them is Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, who thinks Red Bull's continual dominance is "killing the show". Horner reacted: "I can see why people get perhaps frustrated with it but I think that the racing has been very good. The fastest way to become unpopular is to start winning - and we've done a lot of winning the past few years
"It's inevitable that that doesn't sit too comfy with some teams. From a selfish team point of view, the more boring and the more races that we can win the better - but of course we need to compete, we want competition."
Like Ferrari, Red Bull denies this, but McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists "everyone knows" that the energy drink-owned team - the dominant F1 champion for the previious four consecutive seasons - spends the most.
In fact, Whitmarsh said, the "meteoric level of spending" had "distorted the sport" and his counterpart Christian Horner's claim that Red Bull did not spend the most was "just rubbish".
'KILLING THE SHOW'
"You'll see that's just rubbish but everybody knows that and they know it as well," Whitmarsh was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. Horner, however, said rival teams, and F1 fans who were claiming Red Bull was making the racing boring, were just "frustrated".
One of them is Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, who thinks Red Bull's continual dominance is "killing the show". Horner reacted: "I can see why people get perhaps frustrated with it but I think that the racing has been very good. The fastest way to become unpopular is to start winning - and we've done a lot of winning the past few years
"It's inevitable that that doesn't sit too comfy with some teams. From a selfish team point of view, the more boring and the more races that we can win the better - but of course we need to compete, we want competition."