Zak Brown’s FIA letter explained as McLaren pushes for F1 ownership crackdown

Following on from Zak Brown’s letter to the FIA about common team ownership, Andrea Stella has said this principle needs to be “enforced totally”.

The McLaren CEO penned a letter to the FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix, urging the governing body to introduce rules banning common team ownership structures and legislating to dissolve existing structures.

Andrea Stella backs Zak Brown’s FIA stance on F1 team ownership

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

• Why Zak Brown wrote to the FIA over F1 team ownership concerns
• Andrea Stella’s demand for stricter enforcement of independent constructor rules
• How Red Bull and Racing Bulls responded to McLaren’s position

Two weeks ago, PlanetF1.com revealed that Brown had written a letter to the FIA President, in which the McLaren CEO expressed concerns regarding competitive integrity in the areas of common team ownership structures and axes of alliance relationships between ostensibly competing F1 teams.

The letter, a copy of which was seen by PlanetF1.com, did not take aim at any particular entity currently involved in Formula 1, but the topic of common team ownership is a matter that has returned to prominence in recent months following the reveal of confirmed Mercedes’ interest in the purchase of the 24 per cent stake in the Alpine F1 team currently owned by Otro Capital, which would create the perception of the Enstone-based squad becoming a Mercedes ‘satellite’ team should it be successful.

If Mercedes ownership in Alpine came to pass, it would be the second such structure to exist in Formula 1, with Austrian energy drinks giant Red Bull GmbH owning Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls (formerly Toro Rosso) since 2005; a scenario that has essentially been ‘grandfathered’ into the sport from an era in which the commercial and political structures of Formula 1 were very different.

Such common ownership structures are also separate from political alliances formed through customer supply agreements, such as a power unit manufacturer team supplying other teams on the grid, thus forming a natural axis of aligned interests.

The topic of so-called A/B teams is far from a new one, and it’s one Brown has expressed vociferous concerns about over the last few years.

Asked about the potential Mercedes/Alpine deal during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Brown said his concerns “apply to anybody and everybody… A/B teams, co-ownership… regardless of who it is, I frown upon it. I don’t think it’s healthy for the sport.

“I think A/B teams, we need to get away from as much as possible, as quickly as possible.”

With Brown’s concerns outlining perceived moments of how common ownership structures can benefit the parties involved, with the ability to bypass common obstacles such as gardening leave periods and easing personnel movement, the McLaren CEO wrote of the structures creating “unintended but very real consequences”.

Questioning the impact on sporting, financial, and technical rulebook integrity, Brown urged Ben Sulayem to consider the prohibition of any future co-ownership arrangements, and begin exploring ways to start more tightly regulating existing alliances in order to eliminate A/B team dynamics, offering an example of how UEFA has outlined explicit rules pertaining to multi-club ownership in football, with structural remedies in place for clubs with common ownership, such as independent trusts and restrictions.

“We need to eliminate any further alliances,” he wrote, “whether through ownership, strategic participation, or any other equivalent form of control or influence, and we need to work together quickly to start the process of unwinding those already established to ensure that the future integrity of the sport is not compromised.”

The matter was addressed further during the team bosses’ press conference at the Canadian Grand Prix, in which McLaren team boss Andrea Stella elaborated on Brown’s thinking and clarified that his team wishes to see a “philosophical agreement” turn into something more tangible.

“What Zak has expressed, representing the opinion and the position of McLaren, is part of a process that we wanted to be constructive and healthy, but also very clear,” he said.

“Very clear on a principle that I would really be curious to see if any of the stakeholders in Formula 1 disagree with, and the fact that this is a championship between independent constructors.

“We believe very strongly that this principle should be enforced totally. And the reason why we want this principle and this point to be discussed is because we think, from a practical point of view, there’s more that we should do. We are happy with how this is being received.

“I think, like I said before, there’s some philosophical agreement by basically all the stakeholders. It’s now the time for the F1 community to think about how do we implement it fully, such that the fairness in the game and in the competition is fully achieved, and also, the true extent of the technical, sporting and financial regulations is also brought to life.”

More on A/B teams in F1

Zak Brown insists A/B team criticism not personal amid Mercedes Alpine talks

Zak Brown writes FIA letter calling for Formula 1 team ownership rule changes

Red Bull reacts to Zak Brown’s FIA push

Sitting alongside Stella in the same press conference were Red Bull team boss and CEO Laurent Mekies, and Racing Bull’s Alan Permane, two figureheads from the existing common ownership already established.

With McLaren’s letter essentially calling for such a structure to be dissolved and force one of the Red Bull teams to go it alone, there has never been any suggestion of any impropriety by Red Bull when it comes to keeping within the confines of the existing legislation pertaining to personnel movement or technical regulations.

“We all want 11 teams racing independently on track,” Mekies said of the situation, “and we have made many steps as a sport in recent weeks, in recent months, in recent years, to try to ensure more and more independence from every team racing on track.

“If any stakeholders, let it be another team or anyone else, would feel that more steps are needed to ensure 11 teams racing independently, we would support.

“We don’t think it’s a matter of core ownerships or strategic supply. We think there are many different ways in which teams are collaborating in the pit lane.

“As I said, power unit supply, gearbox supply, suspension supply, partial ownerships, full ownerships.

“We are completely supportive to take any further step to ensure that, regardless of our strategic partnership or regardless of our ownership structure, we race independently on track.

“We feel that is the case today. We will regardless completely encourage any further steps that we feel is needed as a sport.”

Permane pointed out that, given the existence of rules already in place to ensure teams remain separate entities with no transfer of intellectual property beyond what’s permitted, a lot of effort is put in from Red Bull’s side to ensure everything is kept above board.

“I certainly feel the benefit of being part of the Red Bull family and coming under Austria, Red Bull corporate projects group,” he said.

“Our relationship with Red Bull Racing is very much a customer-supplier relationship. We take some suspension from them, we take the gearbox from them, and various other components that are allowed under the technical regulations, which we follow very rigorously.

“And actually, I have to say, having worked at a team where we don’t have that relationship at all and now a team where we do have it, a lot of work goes into ensuring that we are respecting those rules.

“So, a lot of effort that could be put into other areas, a lot of effort is put into ensuring that we respect those regulations. So, I don’t see any issue with the way we operate currently.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: Aston Martin boss admits team must ‘get its act together’ after Alonso pain