McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has submitted a formal letter to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem calling for rule changes that would prohibit common ownership structures across multiple Formula 1 teams, according to documents reviewed by industry sources. The timing follows months of paddock speculation about personnel and technical resource sharing between Red Bull Racing and its sister outfit, Visa Cash App RB.
Brown's letter does not name Red Bull explicitly but arrives as the Austrian energy drink manufacturer operates both a championship-contending team and a mid-grid entry under related corporate structures. Red Bull GmbH owns both outfits. Technical director Pierre Waché and aerodynamics chief Enrico Balbo hold influence across both programs, a dynamic Brown and other team principals have questioned in private briefings since mid-2024. The FIA's current Sporting Regulations permit common ownership provided teams maintain separate entries and comply with cost cap accounting. Brown's letter argues the framework creates ambiguity around competitive equity.
The governance push matters because it signals McLaren's willingness to formalize paddock tension into regulatory process. Brown runs a team that turned $306 million in revenue in 2023 and carries anchor sponsorships from Google, Coca-Cola, and Dell Technologies—brands that allocate nine-figure commitments based on perceived competitive legitimacy. If multi-team ownership structures blur lines around intellectual property or wind-tunnel data, those CMOs start asking questions during renewal cycles. Brown knows this. His letter positions McLaren as the clean-hands operator while Red Bull navigates its own succession planning following Adrian Newey's departure to Aston Martin.
The second-order effect involves Liberty Media's ongoing conversations with potential new entrants. Andretti Global spent 18 months pursuing an F1 entry before Formula One Management declined approval in January 2024, citing concerns about grid dilution and commercial value. If existing teams can operate sister outfits under shared ownership, the barrier to a new independent entry rises further. Brown's letter creates leverage: either the FIA tightens ownership rules and limits Red Bull's structural advantage, or it opens the door to arguments that new teams deserve entry under similar multi-team frameworks. Both outcomes serve McLaren's strategic position.
The letter also arrives as F1's Concorde Agreement negotiations for the 2026-2030 cycle enter technical phases. Revenue distribution, cost cap adjustments, and governance voting rights remain under discussion. Brown has used public pressure before—his June 2022 letter accusing Red Bull of "procedural violations" preceded the team's $7 million cost cap breach penalty later that year. The tactic worked: Red Bull accepted reduced wind tunnel time, and Brown positioned McLaren as the compliance standard-bearer. This latest move follows the same playbook.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has not yet responded publicly. RB team principal Laurent Mekies, who joined from Ferrari in 2023, operates under a structure where shared ownership theoretically allows technical synergies both teams deny exist in practice. The FIA's technical department would need to audit data-sharing protocols, a resource-intensive process the governing body has historically avoided unless formal complaints trigger investigation. Brown's letter may force exactly that.
Watch for FIA response by early Q2, likely in the form of a working group rather than immediate rule change. The World Motor Sport Council meets in June; any governance amendment would require majority vote from teams, and Red Bull holds veto power under current Concorde terms. Brown's letter also puts pressure on other team principals—Toto Wolff at Mercedes and Fred Vasseur at Ferrari—to state positions publicly. Both run single-team operations and have voiced private concerns about Red Bull's structure, but neither has filed formal objections. If they endorse Brown's position, Red Bull faces a united front heading into Concorde talks.
The next visible signal will be Ben Sulayem's public statement, expected within three weeks based on FIA's standard response timeline for team correspondence. If the governing body punts the issue to a committee study, Brown loses momentum. If it announces a rule review, Red Bull's 2026 planning—both for its works team and RB—suddenly includes legal and structural contingencies the Austrian outfit did not previously model.
The takeaway
Brown's formal FIA letter targets Red Bull's dual-team structure, leveraging compliance optics to shape Concorde talks and force governance scrutiny before 2026.
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