Zak Brown writes an open letter denouncing the tie-up between Red Bull and AlphaTauri
Red Bull and AlphaTauri are both part of the same group, and even if the regulations limit the exchange of data and parts between the teams, the world champions are still very helpful to the Faenza-based team. A situation denounced by McLaren's CEO in an open letter.
The sporting regulations of the FIA establish a certain number of restrictions on the sharing of information between teams. Each team must produce well-defined parts, in addition to the chassis, such as brake ducts, under penalty of being sanctioned like the 2020 “Pink Mercedes”.
However, some teams have extremely close ties between them, notably Red Bull and AlphaTauri being part of the same group. From 2020 the Faenza team had changed its name from ”Toro Rosso” to the clothing brand of the group co-founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and slowly began a detachment with the parent team.
The early season results of AlphaTauri have urged the leaders of Red Bull F1 Team, including Helmut Marko and Christian Horner, to want to tighten the links between the two teams. Both men wish for the team led by Laurent Mekies starting this year, to use the maximum amount of parts from Red Bull, as long as the regulations allow it. With an RB19 that blatantly dominated this season, this rapprochement can only be positive for the team that finished eighth in the constructor’s standings in 2023.
A part of the aerodynamics team from AlphaTauri has been relocated to Milton Keynes, headquarters of Red Bull to thus allow a better use of wind tunnels notably.
« It is important to defend independence, competition and equity »
But this ownership of Red Bull and AlphaTauri by the same group worries many people in the paddock, due to the sharing of information between the two teams. In an open letter, Zak Brown, the CEO of the McLaren group, denounces this system of multiple ownership in F1.
« Most other major sports prohibit the ownership of two teams within the same league because of the potential obvious damage it causes to competition. It is an unhealthy situation because it impacts decisions made on and off the track. Whether it’s about having access to more data, sharing components, staff, or even having influence on a strategic vote, it’s not in the spirit of the regulation », explains Zak Brown.
« It is important to defend independence, competition and fairness, and I would like to see changes in the regulations to ensure that in the future, they prevent influence from spreading from one team to another through strategic alliances and especially through ownership. Formula 1 must be true to its brand, and all teams except the power units must be totally independent of each other », demands the British man.
« I believe that F1 fans universally believe in fairness in competition and fair rules of the game, and would reject any action that compromises the true spirit of competition within F1. Partial information sharing, shared ownership models, and strategic alliances within the sporting fabric of F1 will only serve to undermine fans’ belief in a fair and fierce competition », concludes the CEO of McLaren.
