Zak Brown has been a vocal critic of the Formula 1 system which allows for organisations to own more than one team at a time, noted as a direct attack on Red Bull by the McLaren chief

McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown has been a vocal critic of ‘B-teams’ being allowed in F1(Image: Getty Images)

The FIA is set to tighten to rules on multi-team ownership in Formula 1 from 2026. That impending change comes after McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown criticised the system allowing for one organisation to own multiple teams on the grid.

In an open letter published in December 2023, Brown called for an outright ban on multi-team ownership. He did not mention Red Bull directly but, as the only organisation on the grid which owns two separate racing outfits, it was a clear direct attack on the energy drinks firm.

“Most other major sports prohibit the ownership of two teams within the same league because of the obvious potential damage that it does to competition. It’s an unhealthy situation because it impacts decisions made both on and off the track,” the American wrote – an opinion shared by former F1 champion Damon Hill.

“Whether it’s a case of having access to more data, sharing components/personnel, or even having influence over a strategic vote, it’s not in the spirit of the regulations. It’s important to stand up for independence, competition and fairness.

“I’d like to see changes in the regulations to ensure that in future, they stop influence spreading from one team to another through strategic alliances and especially through ownership. Formula 1 should be true to its brand, and every team – except power units – should be totally independent of each other.”

While Brown is unlikely to get his wish of a full ban on multi-team ownership any time soon, he will be pleased with a planned move to further limit collaboration between outfits from next year. The Race reports that the new rulebook for the 2026 season is set to include tighter restrictions on how closely teams can work together.

Relationships between teams will continue to be allowed, and are vital to the health of F1 considering there are several outfits which are engine customers of others on the grid. For example, championship leaders McLaren are direct competitors of Mercedes, but also use power units supplied by the Silver Arrows.

But Nikolas Tombazis, single seater director at the FIA, said: “We are working on clarifying more how teams, let’s call them A- and B-teams, operate in terms of putting in provisions that stops those that have some sort of close relationship from helping each other or collaborating.

“We are putting some provisions on the IT side, to make sure that IT systems are segregated, so they cannot share designs, or anything like that. And there will also be physical segregation and what details of what provisions need to be respected.

“Through the years we’ve got involved at various times with various situations emerging, and we’ve frequently had to give clarifications or responses. We’re trying to formalise some of these things into some regulatory structure, so teams can’t play different games. We also want to satisfy the teams that don’t have any affiliation, that the key teams that do have a relationship of some sort do not gain an unfair advantage.”