The FIA confirmed Friday it has initiated a formal investigation into multi-team ownership structures in Formula 1, following a six-month period in which three separate billionaire investors acquired minority stakes in competing franchises. The probe arrives as team valuations have climbed past $2 billion for midfield constructors, making fractional positions attractive to family offices and sovereign wealth allocators who previously bought single clubs in football or basketball.
The investigation centers on competitive integrity concerns that arise when a single investor holds equity in teams competing for the same constructor points, prize money, and technical personnel. Unlike the NFL, NBA, and Premier League—which maintain bright-line prohibitions on cross-team ownership—Formula 1's governance documents contain no explicit ban. The FIA's International Sporting Code requires only that teams operate "independently," a term lawyers describe as aggressively undefined. Sources close to the regulatory body say the review will examine whether existing independence clauses are sufficient or whether new language is required ahead of the 2026 power-unit regulation change, when team valuations are expected to reset upward again.
The timing reflects deal flow, not scandal. In the past eighteen months, one Middle Eastern sovereign fund took a 15 percent position in a top-three team while holding 8 percent of a midfield constructor. A European luxury-goods family acquired 12 percent of one team and 9 percent of another through separate vehicles that share the same registered address in Geneva. A third investor—a technology billionaire who made his fortune in logistics software—now holds positions in two teams after a January transaction that closed without fanfare. None of the investors sit on team boards, and none have operational roles, but all have consent rights over budget cap compliance decisions and driver contract approvals above $8 million per season.
Team principals contacted for this piece declined to comment on the record, though one sporting director noted that the investor overlap "hasn't affected anything we do on Sundays." Off the record, executives describe a subtler issue: recruitment. When the same allocator holds stakes in two teams, hiring decisions for senior technical roles—aerodynamicists, race engineers, strategy heads—create awkward disclosure questions. If Team A approaches a designer currently at Team B, and both teams share an investor, does that investor learn of the approach? The answer, in most shareholder agreements reviewed, is no. But the question itself introduces hesitation into negotiations that often hinge on speed and discretion.
The commercial backdrop is straightforward. Formula 1 team valuations have appreciated 240 percent since Liberty Media's 2017 acquisition of the commercial rights, making the sport one of the highest-performing alternative asset classes for ultra-high-net-worth portfolios. Fractional ownership allows investors to deploy $150 million to $400 million per position without taking on the governance complexity of a control stake. For teams, minority sales provide non-dilutive capital without requiring new debt or compromising family control. Aston Martin's recent $63 million naming-rights extension with Aramco—structured partially as a convertible instrument—suggests that the line between sponsorship and equity is already blurring.
The FIA's investigation will run through the end of Q2, according to a person briefed on the timeline. The body is expected to issue draft guidance by late summer, ahead of the September Singapore Grand Prix, where team owners traditionally gather for annual governance meetings. If the FIA opts for a hard ban—modeled on NFL rules that prohibit any investor from holding equity in more than one franchise—existing multi-team stakes would face a 12-month divestment window. A softer outcome might impose disclosure requirements and board-observer restrictions without forcing sales.
What matters is therecedent. If Formula 1 formalizes a prohibition, it closes a window that has been open for less than two years but has already attracted $1.1 billion in cross-team investment, according to Pitchbook data. If it does not, expect the number of multi-team investors to double before the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.
The takeaway
FIA probes **three** billionaires holding stakes in competing F1 teams as valuations hit **$2B**, with draft rules expected by Singapore in September.
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