McLaren F1 chief sends letter to FIA president in urgent call for major rule change

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McLaren F1 chief sends letter to FIA president in urgent call for major rule change

Zak Brown has taken action against a key issue

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 15 May 2026 17:55

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McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown has penned a letter to the FIA highlighting his concerns over the relationship between A and B teams in the sport.

At present, Red Bull is the only team on the F1 grid which owns another competitive outfit, having purchased Minardi in 2005 and rebranded as Toro Rosso.

While the Faenza-based outfit has gone through different guises - Alpha Tauri, VCARB and now Racing Bulls - the relationship to the Red Bull team has remained the same. The sister team has acted as a training ground for young Red Bull talent and, on occasion, played a key strategic role during races for the main team.

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Brown has been an opponent of this relationship for some time, but speculation that Mercedes could purchase Otro Capital's 24 per cent stake in Alpine Formula 1 team, has once again brought the issue into the spotlight.

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Brown: F1 integrity at risk

Brown has now made his stance on the issue official by penning a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. In it, he references instances where sporting integrity has been compromised by Red Bull and Racing Bull's alliances.

He named the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix as one such example, where Racing Bulls driver Daniel Ricciardo stole the fastest lap point from Lando Norris to help Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the title fight.

Brown also pointed to a more recent example last time out in Miami, where Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson was instructed to move aside for Verstappen.

"There is a real concern that the sport risks taking a step backwards in terms of integrity and fairness, at a time when the regulatory framework has been designed - with significant collective effort - to move in the opposite direction," Brown wrote.

Brown opposes shared resources

The McLaren chief also took umbrage with shared resources between the two teams, such as wind tunnels and software, alongside the ease with which personnel can make the switch from Racing Bulls to Red Bull and vice versa.

Brown points to their example with Rob Marshall, whom they had to wait nine months for before he could join McLaren, whereas Laurent Mekies was able to leave Racing Bulls for the Red Bull team principal role promptly following Christian Horner's exit.

He added that Andrea Landi’s move from Racing Bulls to Red Bull in July, when it was announced in April: "Reinforces perception that internal firewalls are not operating in a way that would be accepted between genuinely independent competitors."

Brown continued in his letter: "We need to eliminate any further alliances, whether through ownership, strategic participation or any other equivalent form of control or influence, and we need to work together quickly to start the process of unwinding those already established to ensure that the future integrity of the sport is not compromised."

"I think the work that the FIA and Liberty have done to create 11 healthy teams, in a cost-controlled environment, has created the most competitive era of Formula 1 ever.

"We believe that, by addressing this remaining structural issue, Formula 1 will be set on an even stronger course, will continue to thrive and be the best the sport has ever been, we just need to make sure we bring total parity and integrity to the sport in every aspect. I am confident we can achieve that together."

F1 McLaren FIA Zak Brown