McLaren have concerns over 'some teams' in F1 negotiations

McLaren team boss Zak Brown has revealed that he has concerns over 'some teams' and the power they have during team negotiations with Formula One, and expressed a desire for talks to take place 'behind closed doors' rather than in the public eye.

Each team has the ability to negotiate individual contracts with F1, with current deals running out in 2020. However, with different contracts on the table for different teams, the more established outfits hold more power in their negotiations.

Ferrari, in particular, with their status as the only squad to have competed in every F1 campaign in history, hold a lot of influence and currently have the ability to veto certain decisions made by the sport's governing body.

Brown did call out Ferrari by name, but has an issue with one team who will be 'tougher' than most.

“My big concern now is the negotiations for the new contract will be tough, some teams will be tougher than others and I think we know who,” said the McLaren boss.

“I hope, but I’m not confident, that they can negotiate behind the scenes and not too much through the public, which I don’t think it’s going to be the case because they already are, and hurt any forward momentum that we’ve now created by giving concern.

“Any time people think a strike is going to come in a sport, they start ‘well why don’t you guys go figure that out and then we’ll look at joining’. So I just hope that they are not too destructive in the negotiation process.

“Ultimately, I think it will all get done so it will be nothing more than negotiation but we saw last time where it got to, ’09 with the breakaway.”

The 'breakaway' that Brown refers to was a potential departure of every team from the sport back in 2009 with figures not happy with FIA regulations, only for the dispute to be sorted.

Brown does not think this could happen again, but believes teams could use it as a threat to gain more negotiating power. This could be in reference to Ferrari, who have threatened to leave F1 all season.

“I don’t think there’s any chance of a breakaway but those stories will get out there at some point and they can be destructive, especially when they are not anything other than a negotiation tactic,” he continued.

“No one wants that, but they [F1] have got to do what’s right for the sport and I think that is what they are going to do,” stated Brown. “Any time you are in a negotiation you need to be prepared to walk away.

“They are trying to do the right thing by everyone, but with the rebalancing of the sport on and off track, those that have had the unfair advantage are going to see it as they are losing something and they are not going to want to lose something so I sympathise with that.

“But the sport’s losing because of it and therefore they ultimately lose because we are all in this boat and if the boat sinks, it doesn’t matter if you are in first class or economy, the boat’s sinking.

“So they are going to have to find a balance of what they think is an acceptable compromise and they are all tough negotiators. Liberty is going to make a decision for what they think is best for the sport, be fair and balance.

Brown eventually mentioned Ferrari, and insisted they have to be respected for the part they have played in F1, but not at the risk of damaging the sport overall.

“We all recognise that Ferrari has been the largest contributor to the sport and that has to be recognised but it shouldn’t be recognised in a way that hurts the sport.“