Mohammed Ben Sulayem says multi-team ownership ‘not right’ in response to Mercedes interest in Alpine
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested he does not support multi-team ownership
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has warned that one company owning two F1 teams is “not the right way”, amid Mercedes’ reported interest in buying a stake in Alpine.
The subject of multi-team ownership, A/B ownership, was brought back into focus in recent weeks when it emerged that Mercedes was one of the parties interested in buying Otro Capital’s share of Alpine.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem responds to Mercedes interest in Alpine
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A rare opportunity to purchase a stake in an F1 team has presented itself after independent private equity firm Otro Capital put its 24 per cent stake in Alpine up for sale. Otro paid $233 million for the shares back in 2023, but the rising value of Formula 1 means Alpine is now worth an estimated $3 billion. As such the shares could go for as much as $720 million.
After long-standing interest from former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and a consortium, Mercedes emerged as a bidder in March.
Although it was initially reported that it was Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff who was the bidder, Alpine’s defacto team boss Flavio Briatore told PlanetF1.com and other media that it was in fact Mercedes.
“Every day is a new situation,” Briatore said. “But what I want to say, I know it’s the negotiation from Mercedes – not with Toto, with Mercedes – and we’ll see.
“In this moment, we have three or four potential buyers – don’t forget, we’re talking about the Otro share, nothing to do with Alpine. There are a few candidates ready to do the deal.”
Such a purchase would make Mercedes one of two companies with ownership stakes in multiple constructors, with Red Bull owning the eponymous team and Racing Bulls.
However, Ben Sulayem has said he is against multi-team ownership and said his team were looking into seeing if a Mercedes purchase was allowed.
“Who is not interested [in the Otro stake]?” Ben Sulayem said, as per the Times. “Really, everybody is there.
“But, I feel ownership of two teams, as long as it’s for the right reason… and what is the right reason?
“As long as you are not trying to take it because you don’t want others to take it, or also get voting power when it comes to the regulations, then maybe it’s OK.
“But then I do believe that owning two [teams] is not the right way, this is my personal point of view, but we are looking into that because it’s a complicated area.
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“We put our people [to investigate] to see, is it possible? Is it allowed? Is it the right thing?
“There is something called a sporting side. If we lose, honestly, the sporting spirit, I believe that there will not be any more support in [the sport]. So to me, as I said, I’m not with [support of] it 100 per cent.”
Ben Sulayem, who recently won re-election until 2029, is likely to be met with accusations of unfairness should any move be blocked given Red Bull already own two teams.
Supporters of Red Bull would suggest that the Austrian company bought their second team from Minardi at a time when finances in F1 were desperate, rather than the profit-making teams they are now.
The FIA president also commented on the former Red Bull boss Horner and suggested he would “welcome him back” should Horner’s bid be successful.
“Who can remove Christian Horner’s name from motorsport and Formula 1? You can’t,” Ben Sulayem said. “It was always success. But success also has enemies, as we know.
“If you ask me, we miss him in this sport, and I keep in touch with him, and he was good for the [Red Bull] team, good for the sport. We welcome him back, and someone like him would always find his way [back].”
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