Zak Brown insists A/B team criticism not personal amid Mercedes Alpine talks
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has been impressed by McLaren's turnaround in the past year.
Zak Brown is adamant his criticism of A/B teams in Formula 1 is not personal after Flavio Briatore confirmed that Mercedes is in negotiations to purchase Otro’s stake in the Alpine team.
Brown has been a long-time critic of any person or company owning two Formula 1 teams, such as Red Bull owning Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls. Now Mercedes could become a dual owner.
Zak Brown A/B teams stance amid Mercedes Alpine talks
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Red Bull GmbH was the first A/B team owner in Formula 1, the company stepping in to save Minardi back in 2005 when it would’ve meant the demise of the Formula 1 team.
But while Red Bull GmbH has had offers since to sell its second team, it has refused, which he irked McLaren chief Brown.
Back in 2018, he voiced concerns over the integrity of B-team arrangements and has continued to be vocal in his complaints.
No more so than in 2024 when Lando Norris lost a crucial bonus point in the championship race when Racing Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo went out for a late soft tyre run to deny Max Verstappen’s title rival the fastest lap point.
“That’s a nice A/B-team sporting thing that I didn’t think was allowed,” he told SiriusXM. “But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen it, and it probably won’t be the last.”
He indicated that he would “certainly ask some questions.”
Red Bull and Racing Bulls’ relationship was again under the spotlight when Red Bull said farewell to Christian Horner in the days after the British Grand Prix and immediately appointed Laurent Mekies from Racing Bulls in his stead. No gardening leave required.
Ferrari, although not co-owners of Haas, has done similarly with its relationship with the Ferrari-powered team.
And now Mercedes could become a 24 per cent co-owner of the Alpine F1 team.
De facto Alpine team boss Briatore confirmed earlier this year that Mercedes is in talks to buy Otro Capital’s 24 per cent stake in Alpine. Although PlanetF1.com understands it is Toto Wolff who has made the bid, the Austrian a part owner of the Mercedes F1 team, Briatore insisted it was Mercedes.
“Every day it’s a new situation,” he said during Friday’s team principal press conference in Shanghai. “But what I want to say, I know it’s a negotiation from Mercedes, not with Toto, with Mercedes, and we see.”
But whether it is Mercedes or Mercedes’ co-owners, it’s not a situation that Brown wants.
“It applies to anybody and everybody,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media.
“A/B teams co-ownership, so regardless of who it is, I frown upon it. I don’t think it’s healthy for the sport. So it’s not personal or towards any one team or individual.”
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The McLaren CEO expanded on his reasoning, saying: “It hasn’t changed at all, I think I’ve been consistent. I think A/B teams, we need to get away from as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
“I think co-ownership, which we have of one group now — and I understand how that came about and why it came about — but today’s day and age, that’s permitted in almost, if not all, major forms of sport.
“I think it runs a real high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness, which comes back to the earlier question, what would turn fans off, is if they don’t feel like there are 11 independent racing teams.
“I’ve been vocal about it from day one.
“We’ve seen it play out on track in a sporting way – Daniel Ricciardo taking the fastest lap point away from us to help the other team [in Singapore in 2024].
“We’ve seen IP violations on the Aston Martin/Racing Point on brake ducts, we’ve seen employees move overnight, where we either have to wait and sometimes make financial deals, which then impacts us on the cost cap.
“So when you see other teams that move from one to the other, and then also without financial compensation, that’s an unfair financial advantage, that’s an unfair sporting advantage.
“We’ve seen Ferrari and Haas move people back and forth, and we know IP is a lot in your head, so when you put that all together…”
He continued: “Can you imagine a Premier League game and you’ve got two teams owned by the same group, one’s going to get relegated if they lose, the other can afford to lose, and that’s what we run the risk of.
“So I think having engine power units as suppliers is as far as it should go.
“And then, in my view, all 11 teams should be absolutely as independent as possible, because I think it has a high risk, and we have seen it compromise the integrity of the sport, and that will be what turns fans off quicker than anything else.”
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