McLaren CEO Zak Brown has admitted he upholds “big concerns” over the growing technical relationship between the two teams owned by Red Bull in Formula 1.
After AlphaTauri encountered a poor start to the past campaign, it was revealed the Faenza squad would benefit from forging a closer alliance with champions Red Bull.
This was evident towards the end of the season as AlphaTauri adopted Red Bull’s rear suspension in Singapore, helping the side climb from 10th to eighth in the standings.
AlphaTauri’s late development push which saw it almost snatch seventh perturbed rivals and led to the FIA clarifying that it has stringent tests in place to monitor the matter.
But after Haas boss Guenther Steiner said the topic warranted a discussion, Brown ponders whether Red Bull, who ceased development on its RB19 car in August, stood to gain an advantage from AlphaTauri’s relentless upgrade pursuit.
Speaking to Autosport, Brown queried: “The million-dollar question that none of us know is how early did they [Red Bull] turn off this year’s car?
“We know we’ve outperformed the others in the development race, and we know we’ve closed the gap to Red Bull but what none of us know is: did Red Bull stop, and we just caught up, or were they still developing?
“Also, we have some big concerns over the alliance between AlphaTauri and Red Bull. I think that is something that needs to be addressed in the future.
“So, I still think the sport has a way to go to make sure that everyone is truly independent.”
Along with the opportunity to take more car parts from Red Bull, AlphaTauri now has an increased presence within its aerodynamics department housed in Bicester, England.
Brown contends that the situation benefits Red Bull in several aspects and has called on the FIA and F1 to review the regulations regarding common ownership in the sport.
“It is two teams with common ownership, which you wouldn’t have in other sports,” the American continued.
“[It could aid Red Bull in] a lot of different ways. There is a reason why they are moving a lot of their people from Italy.
“As Helmut [Marko, Red Bull Motorsport Advisor] has said, they are going to do absolutely everything they can to benefit from having two teams.
“I get that because that’s what the rules say. But I think we need to look at the governance of the sport around technical alliances.”
Totally agree… the way it goes, we’ll have Red and Pink Bull taking P1 to P4, and thrilling races for who will take P5. Count me out!