McLaren boss issues warning amid Mercedes-Alpine link

McLaren CEO Zak Brown thinks Formula 1 would be making a "mistake" if it allowed another A/B team alliance – amid Mercedes eyeing a buy-in of the Alpine squad.

It emerged earlier this year that Mercedes is considering becoming a minority shareholder in Alpine, through the purchase of the 24% stake that the American Otro Capital investment group currently has.

And while it has been made clear that if a deal came off it would not be a case of Alpine becoming a Mercedes junior squad, there have been discussions evaluating how the two outfits could work closer together.

But Brown, who has long campaigned against co-ownership and A/B squads, thinks such a move would not be good for F1.

While he says he can tolerate Red Bull's long-standing ownership of the Racing Bulls squad, he says it is a completely different matter when it comes to allowing a new relationship between two teams to be created.

He says that with talks having taken place in the most recent Concorde Agreement about potentially forcing Red Bull to sell off Racing Bulls, going in the other direction and opening the door for another combined force would be ridiculous.

"There were discussions in the Concorde Agreement about should, over time, one of the [Red Bull] teams be divested," he said.

"But I also have a huge appreciation for what they've done for the sport and how that was done a long time ago.

"So I think as long as it's managed and watched [the Red Bull situation is OK]. But certainly adding to it [through a different alliance], I think would be a mistake for the sport."

Brown believes there are plenty of examples from history of F1's integrity suffering on occasions when teams worked closer together than they should have.

"In today's day and age if that's permitted, I think it runs a real high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness," he said. 

"And what would turn fans off is if they don't feel like there's 11 independent racing teams.

"I've been vocal about it from day one. We've seen it play out on track in a sporting way, with [then AlphaTauri driver] Daniel Ricciardo taking the fastest lap point away from us [in Singapore in 2024] to help the other team.

"We've seen IP violations on the Racing Point brake ducts [in the 2020 ‘pink Mercedes' saga over the similarity between the teams' two cars].

"We've seen employees move overnight [between affiliated teams], where we either have to wait and sometimes make financial deals, which then impacts us in the cost cap.

"So when you see other teams that move from one to the other and then also without financial compensation, that's an unfair financial advantage. That's an unfair sporting advantage.

"We've seen Ferrari and Haas move people back and forth, and we know with IP there's a lot in your head with that."

Brown cited a football example of the danger of situations where teams could throw results to help their fellow squad.

"Can you imagine a Premier League game where you've got two teams owned by the same group - one's going to get relegated if they lose, and the other can afford to lose?

"That's what we run the risk of. So I think having engine power units as suppliers is as far as it should go."

Brown being so forthright about a situation involving Mercedes is interesting given it is McLaren's engine supplier.

But while he made clear that his thoughts were based on the principle of co-ownership rather than being aimed at the specific Mercedes/Alpine example, he was emphatic that he would not be happy if it went ahead.

Asked if his complaints also applied to Mercedes, he said: "It applies to anybody and everybody. So A/B teams, co-ownership, regardless of who it is, I frown upon it.

"I don't think it's healthy for the sport. But it's not personal or towards any one team or individual."

Open arms towards Horner

The Mercedes interest in Alpine comes alongside former Red Bull boss Christian Horner also pushing to secure a minority share in the squad.

Brown has previously had a fractious relationship with Horner as their teams vied for world championships in F1.

But in the wake of Horner's sacking by Red Bull in the middle of last year, the tensions between them have eased and Brown says he would actually welcome him back in the paddock.

"Christian was a great personality for the sport," declared Brown. "I think it would be great to have Christian back in the sport.

"He's a great operator. His track record speaks for itself. I'd rather have 10 weak team principals, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, and there's huge talent that's coming up all the time.

"There's been a lot of team principal moves here in the last two to three years. but I think it'd be great to have him back in the sport.

"And I'm sure, given his passion for the sport and his age, I'd be shocked if he wasn't back in the sport, whether it was at Alpine or somewhere else."