McLaren CEO Brown takes aim at Red Bull and Mercedes with scathing letter to the FIA

Brown has stated several times that owning multiple F1 teams (or even having a finger in the pie at more than one team) should be curbed. Earlier, the McLaren CEO made that appeal in the press; GPblog has now confirmed that a letter conveying this message was also sent to Ben Sulayem. The authenticity of the quotes appearing in various media has likewise been confirmed to this website.

In his lengthy letter, Brown appears to refer to situations involving Red Bull Racing in particular: "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." the CEO writes.

In his letter, Brown also offers several examples intended to show that owning two teams leads to undesirable situations. He cites Daniel Ricciardo setting the fastest lap for Racing Bulls during the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, thereby taking a point away from McLaren. That helped Max Verstappen, as he was in a title fight with Lando Norris. The most recent race in Miami was also mentioned, when Liam Lawson let Max Verstappen through with ease.

Brown is also annoyed that staff members move between Racing Bulls and Red Bull without gardening leave, for example Laurent Mekies when he became team principal for Max Verstappen. He writes: "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."

Brown now addresses Ben Sulayem directly. "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," he said.

The question, of course, is what the FIA will do with the letter. While McLaren is opposed to the connections mentioned, teams such as Mercedes, Red Bull, and Racing Bulls take a different stance. They will never simply agree to sever those strong ties.