McLaren F1 boss Brown lambasts team co-ownership, calls for FIA action
Chief executive of McLaren Racing Zak Brown called for the FIA to look into the practice of co-ownership in Formula 1.
Brown has long been critical of co-ownership in the sport and reiterated his concerns when speaking to Sky Sports.
He explained: “If you look at every other major sport you’re not allowed to own other teams.
“There’s A/B team relationships and when these started years ago it was because there was a huge gap between the top teams and the bottom teams.
“Now there’s this budget cap in place so all ten teams are pretty much running to the cap so it’s an even playing field.
“I just think the sport’s now moved on to an equal playing field so to have A/B relationships, to have co-ownership of two teams I think is not a level playing field, it’s not what the fans expect and so the FIA really need to do something about it.”
F1 siblings
Red Bull and AlphaTauri, formerly Toro Rosso are the only teams in the competition which are co-owned and the latter has often been seen as a training ground for young drivers to eventually graduate to Red Bull.
Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel are just a handful of examples of drivers who have graduated from AlphaTauri to Red Bull.
Verstappen was dominant last year, winning 19 of the 22 races on the F1 calendar, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished ninth and sixth respectively in 2023 as the team came fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Brown’s McLaren team recently revealed their new MCL38 car ahead of the 2024 season, which starts in Bahrain on February 29.
Morning Wire approached the FIA for comment.