F1 News: Red Bull placed on red alert as FIA president confirms multi-team ownership investigation

Red Bull

Red Bull placed on red alert as FIA president confirms multi-team ownership investigation

Should Red Bull and Racing Bulls both be allowed to compete?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 12 May 2026 13:55

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FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested that F1's governing body are looking into multi-team ownership, a hot topic which has caused controversy relating to Red Bull and Racing Bulls in recent weeks.

Red Bull joined the sport back in 2005, and it didn't take them long before they acquired a sister team, with the Faenza-based outfit formerly known as Minardi becoming Toro Rosso for the 2006 season onwards.

Since then, that team has been called AlphaTauri and VCARB, before landing on the Racing Bulls name for 2025.

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That sister team is used to blood young drivers in the sport, making sure they are ready to be full-time F1 drivers before offering them a promotion into the main Red Bull team, but both teams are owned by the energy drink giants.

Examples of drivers who have been promoted into the main Red Bull team after driving for the sister team include Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Isack Hadjar.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has previously been vocal about the A/B team scenario at Red Bull, and described it as 'unhealthy' ahead of the Miami Grand Prix last time out.

But McLaren and Red Bull are known to not have the best relationship as rivals. Last year, Red Bull accused McLaren of a tyre cooling trick, something which was thrown out by the FIA but led Brown to mock the team on the pit wall.

On top of this, Red Bull's former team principal Christian Horner described Brown as a 'p****' following the American's comments about previous investigations surrounding Horner's conduct, which resulted in the Brit being cleared of any wrongdoing.

So is this just a Brown and McLaren gripe, or are the FIA genuinely concerned about multi-team ownership?

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What does the FIA think about Red Bull and Racing Bulls?

FIA president Ben Sulayem has defended multi-team ownership, but also suggested the FIA are further investigating it.

Ben Sulayem told Reuters that multi-team ownership could be acceptable if done for the 'right reasons.'

FIA chief Ben Sulayem is not a fan of multi-team ownership.

"As long as you are not trying to take it (the stake) because you don't want others to take it, or also get voting power when it comes to the regulations, then maybe it's OK," he said.

"But then I do believe that owning two is not the right way, this is my personal point of view, but we are looking into that because it's a complicated area."

F1 Red Bull FIA Zak Brown Racing Bulls Mohammed Ben Sulayem