(Motorsport-Total.com) – McLaren CEO Zak Brown wants to prevent further alliances between existing Formula 1 teams. Therefore, he has now addressed FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem in a six-page letter. The trigger was Mercedes’ interest in a 24 percent minority stake in the Alpine team.
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In his letter, Brown pointed out the risks of such constellations and questioned the sporting fairness. At a press conference at the McLaren site in Woking, Brown went into more detail and cited, as an example, the lack of cooling-off periods for personnel changes between sister teams like Red Bull and Racing Bulls.
An example: After the departure of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Laurent Mekies was simply transferred from Racing Bulls to Red Bull. Jonathan Wheatley, the former Red Bull sporting director, on the other hand, had to observe a cooling-off period of over a year before he was officially allowed to move to Audi as team principal in April 2025 – a significant difference.
McLaren boss Brown is also bothered by possible team orders scenarios or situations where “related” teams could offer each other strategic assistance. Brown cited the fastest race lap by Racing Bulls driver Daniel Ricciardo at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, which took the bonus point away from championship contender Lando Norris, who finished 18th, but Ricciardo himself was not eligible for the bonus point. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen benefited from this.
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Brown also pointed to potential conflicts of interest on political issues in Formula 1 and suggested that independent teams without strategic partnerships could be structurally disadvantaged – unlike partner teams that could benefit from the exchange of technical or operational resources.
Other sports already prevent such scenarios through clear regulations: for example, in the major European football leagues, multiple ownerships of competing teams are prohibited. Now Brown is urging the world motor federation to follow suit with its own rules for Formula 1. However, an official response from the FIA to Brown’s letter is still pending.
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