McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed his long-standing dislike of “A-B teams” in F1 following Mercedes’ expression of interest in a stake in the Alpine F1 team.
These sister teams have been around in F1 for years, and the most prominent on the current grid are the Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls teams, both owned by Red Bull since 2005.
There is also an enduring technical partnership between Haas and Ferrari, and Mercedes and Williams have been considered a sister team, with Mercedes junior drivers sometimes getting a seat at Williams before Mercedes.
Though these arrangements are permitted, they have faced scrutiny and criticism from other teams on the grid who are not involved.
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The Alpine stake
There is currently a 24 per cent shareholding up for grabs in the Alpine F1 team, currently owned by Otro Capital.
There have been rumours about many interested parties in the F1 world; however, Mercedes have now expressed clear interest in this investment.
Team boss Toto Wolff has stated that Mercedes have no interest in turning Alpine into a junior team; however, as they currently supply engines to Alpine, Brown believes “having engine power units as suppliers is as far as it should go”.
Brown’s comments
Brown said on Sky Sports: “I’ve been saying for 10 years I don’t like co-ownership, I don’t like A-B teams.
“I think it runs a high risk of compromising the sporting integrity of the sport.”
Brown highlighted potential interference with this integrity by making an example of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.
A contentious call saw Racing Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pit on the final lap to attempt to obtain the fastest lap, which at that time rewarded the driver a point.
The reason this was controversial is that the fastest lap was held by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was in a title fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
As a result, some claim this was an order made by Red Bull to the junior Racing Bulls team to assist Verstappen in the title fight – an order which would be against the rules, but no one can prove it.
Drawing a reference to football, Brown added: “Can you imagine a Premier League game and you’ve got two teams owned by the same group?”
Brown has raised his concerns during the recent Concorde Agreement discussions, an agreement which dictates the commercial, financial, and regulatory frames of the sport, and said that he is happy with the outcome of the discussions.
While he is pleased with this and acknowledged his gratitude for what Red Bull has done for the sport, he believes this should not be replicated and stood firm on his opinion that “all 11 teams should be as independent as possible”.
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SportJustSport writers 
Liberty Nicholson-Hulse