McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has submitted a formal letter to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem requesting rule changes that would prohibit common ownership structures across multiple Formula 1 teams. The correspondence, filed directly with the governing body, marks the first documented attempt by a team principal to preemptively ban a commercial arrangement that does not currently exist on the grid.
Brown's letter arrives as Formula 1 enters its third season under the $140 million cost cap, a regulatory framework that has compressed operating margins and made team ownership arithmetic newly attractive to multi-asset sports operators. The timing is not incidental. Three private equity firms—CVC Capital Partners, RedBird Capital, and MSP Sports Capital—now hold stakes across four teams, though none control voting shares in more than one entry. Brown's proposal would codify what is currently gentleman's agreement: one vote per beneficial owner.
The request carries weight because McLaren itself sits inside a portfolio structure. MSP Sports Capital owns 33 percent of McLaren Racing, while Ares Management holds a separate debt position. Brown is not arguing against outside capital—he is arguing against the specific configuration where a single entity could theoretically influence competitive decisions at two garages. The distinction matters in a paddock where engine supply, wind tunnel correlation data, and lead technical hires move between teams on eighteen-month cycles. If one investor sat on two boards, they would see both playbooks.
What Brown is protecting is franchise scarcity. Formula 1 currently fields ten teams under the Concorde Agreement, which runs through 2030. The FIA has historically resisted grid expansion, making existing entries effectively fixed-supply assets. If multi-team ownership were permitted, a scenario emerges where a large capital allocator consolidates two mid-field teams, strips redundant overhead, and operates them as a single economic unit with two separate sporting entries. That arrangement would devalue every other team's enterprise multiple. Brown is writing the letter now because the first private equity exit window opens in 2027, when early Concorde-era investors can sell without penalty.
The FIA's response will clarify whether team ownership is governed by sporting regulations or commercial contracts. If sporting regulations, Ben Sulayem can amend the rulebook with team consent. If commercial, the matter belongs to Formula 1 Management and Liberty Media, who have different incentives. Liberty has publicly flirted with grid expansion to twelve teams, which would require diluting each team's annual prize pool share. Allowing multi-team ownership achieves a similar economic outcome without the logistical burden of homologating two new garages.
Brown's letter also lands as Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Team Principal, navigates a separate governance question about his expected return timeline following an internal investigation. The paddock is watching whether Horner's investor relationships—Red Bull GmbH owns 100 percent of two teams, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri (rebranded as Racing Bulls)—will face renewed scrutiny under any ownership transparency push. Red Bull's dual-team structure predates the current Concorde Agreement and operates under a grandfathered exemption, but that exemption was never formalized in writing. Brown's letter could force that conversation into the open.
The immediate follow-on is whether other team principals countersign. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin operate as wholly-owned subsidiaries of automotive manufacturers and have no structural interest in outside investor protections. Williams and Haas, both looking for capital, might oppose any rule that narrows their buyer universe. Sauber, preparing for Audi's 2026 works entry, will vote with the OEMs. That leaves Alpine and AlphaTauri as swing votes, and both are currently for sale.
Watch for FIA World Motor Sport Council commentary before the Miami Grand Prix in early May. If Ben Sulayem tables the discussion, it signals Liberty has jurisdiction and Brown is negotiating in the wrong room. If the Council opens a consultation period, expect draft language by September, when teams finalize 2025 technical regulations. The investor class will pay close attention: RedBird is rumored to be sizing a second paddock asset, and any rule change would need to include a compliance timeline for existing stakeholders to unwind positions. The letter does not ask for retroactive application, but it does not explicitly exclude it either.
Brown's letter is now part of the FIA's formal correspondence record, which means it will appear in appendices when the next Concorde Agreement is negotiated in 2029. He is not solving a current problem. He is preventing a future one, and doing it on the record.
The takeaway
Brown's FIA filing preempts multi-team ownership before private equity exits open in 2027, forcing governance clarity on whether teams are sporting entries or financial assets.
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