McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has submitted a formal letter to the FIA requesting rule changes that would prohibit common ownership structures across Formula 1 teams, a move that arrives as Mercedes explores potential involvement with Alpine and Liberty Media faces its first serious test of governance architecture since the $4.4 billion Bahrain Mumtalakat stake purchase closed last year.
Brown's correspondence, filed this week, argues that multi-team ownership creates conflicts of interest that undermine competitive integrity. The letter does not name specific transactions but the timing is unsubtle: Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed in January that his organization had preliminary conversations with Alpine's parent Renault about a possible technical partnership or minority equity position. Alpine, which finished eighth in the 2024 constructor standings, is shopping for capital after Renault's board signaled it would reduce motorsport funding by €200 million annually through 2027. Brown's letter follows similar public comments he made in Abu Dhabi last November, though the formalization of his position into FIA correspondence suggests he believes the window for preemptive governance action is closing.
The practical concern is resource asymmetry. If Mercedes, which operates a $450 million annual budget and employs over 1,100 people at its Brackley and Brixworth facilities, gains influence over Alpine's operation—even as a minority holder—McLaren and other independent teams argue it creates an uneven competitive surface. The FIA's existing ownership rules, written in 2021 during the Concorde Agreement negotiations, prohibit single entities from holding majority stakes in more than one team but allow minority positions and technical partnerships. Brown's letter reportedly requests the FIA tighten that language to include minority stakes above 15% and formalize disclosure requirements for shared technical personnel or IP transfers between affiliated teams. The request is not unreasonable given precedent: the Premier League enforces similar cross-ownership restrictions after the multi-club holding controversies of the 2010s.
What complicates Brown's position is McLaren's own ownership history. MSP Sports Capital, the New York-based firm that took a minority stake in McLaren Racing in 2020, also holds investments in other motorsport properties, though not F1 teams. Brown's argument rests on a distinction between passive financial investors and active operational stakeholders, but the line is not as clean as he suggests. Several F1 teams now have overlapping backers through sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and sponsors who sit on multiple advisory boards. The Bahrain sovereign wealth fund owns McLaren's largest shareholder and has historically held exploratory talks with other teams. Brown's letter does not address these adjacencies, which will give his critics an opening when the FIA begins its review process in Q2.
The FIA's response timeline matters because Alpine's capital raise process is expected to conclude before the Monaco Grand Prix in late May. If Mercedes or another multi-team operator moves before the FIA acts, Brown's letter becomes a retrospective complaint rather than a preventive governance tool. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has not commented publicly, but sources familiar with the World Motor Sport Council's calendar say ownership rules are not currently on the agenda for the March meeting in Bahrain. That suggests any rule change would require at least 90 days of consultation, pushing implementation into the second half of the season at earliest.
McLaren itself is not static. The team's Andrea Stella-led technical operation has quietly hired 47 engineers since the start of 2024, many from Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Woking facility is midway through a £200 million infrastructure upgrade funded in part by MSP's follow-on investment. Brown's letter, then, is as much about preserving McLaren's competitive momentum as it is about abstract fairness. The team finished fourth in the 2024 constructors' championship with 366 points, its best result since 2012, and cannot afford a scenario where a resurgent Alpine gets a technical backdoor through Stuttgart.
What to watch: FIA rulemaking process typically requires 60 days public comment before a World Motor Sport Council vote. If Brown's letter triggers formal review, expect counterproposals from Wolff and Alpine team principal Bruno Famin before the Bahrain season opener March 2. Mercedes is unlikely to withdraw from Alpine talks voluntarily, which means any resolution will come through FIA enforcement or a negotiated carve-out that satisfies McLaren's concerns without killing the deal. Also monitor whether other independent teams—Williams, Haas, Sauber—file supporting letters, which would give Brown's position majority backing among non-manufacturer squads.
Brown did not name Wolff in the letter, but he did name the problem: capital is concentrating, and the independents believe their window to shape the rules is measured in weeks, not months.
The takeaway
Brown's FIA letter formalizes opposition to Mercedes-Alpine deal structure before governance rules lock, signaling McLaren sees **90-day** window to block precedent.
mclarenfia governancemulti-team ownershipalpinemercedeszak brown
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