McLaren boss reveals ‘big concerns’ over Red Bull-AlphaTauri F1 alliance
AlphaTauri are going to be brought into much closer alignment with Red Bull next season.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has raised “big concerns” over the increased collaboration set to be brought in between Red Bull and AlphaTauri in the 2024 season.
AlphaTauri are set to be rebranded, but the junior Red Bull team are set to be brought into much closer technical alignment with their ‘senior’ team, with Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko having confirmed they will take every part they are allowed to have from above on their car next year.
This was brought about in part due to a drop-off in performance in the past two seasons, and with the dominance Red Bull have had at the front of the field, rivals are now worried about how closely the two teams will be aligned.
McLaren raise “big concerns” over Red Bull and AlphaTauri
While teams such as Haas and Ferrari enjoy technical alliances, with Haas buying certain Ferrari parts through their status as a power unit customer, Red Bull have made their intentions clear with AlphaTauri – or in their rebranded form – to make them as close to a Red Bull as the regulations allow.
This has Brown particularly concerned, as the two teams are owned by the same entity, which means the McLaren CEO wants to see measures put in place to ensure teams have to be “truly independent” in future.
“The million-dollar question that none of us know is how early did they [Red Bull] turn off this year’s car?” Brown said to Autosport.
“We know we’ve outperformed the others in the development race, and we know we’ve closed the gap to Red Bull but what none of us know is: did Red Bull stop, and we just caught up, or were they still developing?
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“Also, we have some big concerns over the alliance between AlphaTauri and Red Bull. I think that is something that needs to be addressed in the future.
“So, I still think the sport has a way to go to make sure that everyone is truly independent.
“It is two teams with common ownership, which you wouldn’t have in other sports.
“[It could benefit Red Bull in] a lot of different ways. There is a reason why they are moving a lot of their people from Italy.
“As Helmut [Marko] has said, they are going to do absolutely everything they can to benefit from having two teams.
“I get that because that’s what the rules say. But I think we need to look at the governance of the sport around technical alliances.”
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