McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has sent a formal letter to the FIA requesting rule changes to prevent common ownership structures across Formula 1 teams. The letter, disclosed this week, arrives as F1 team valuations surge past $1 billion and private equity circles multiple franchises.
Brown's intervention targets scenarios where a single investor or corporate group holds stakes in multiple constructor entries. Current FIA regulations permit minority cross-holdings below certain thresholds, a structure several family offices and sovereign funds have explored as secondary market liquidity opens. The McLaren principal did not specify which ownership arrangements prompted the letter, but three teams changed hands or took new investors in the past 18 months.
The timing matters. Ferrari's valuation now exceeds $3.2 billion in private comps, Williams sold to Dorilton Capital for a reported $150 million in 2020, and McLaren itself took a $185 million MSP Sports Capital investment in 2020 at a $560 million enterprise value. That gap—Williams at $150 million, Ferrari at $3.2 billion—creates asymmetric consolidation risk. A diversified allocator with $500 million to deploy could theoretically own pieces of three mid-grid teams, creating coordination problems the sport has not faced since the 1990s.
Brown's concern is governance, not competition. F1's Concorde Agreement already restricts constructor partnerships on technical grounds, but ownership rules lag capital flows. The letter arrives the same week Mercedes announced the departure of junior driver chief Gwen Lagrue to Red Bull's academy, a talent move that signals teams are fortifying structures ahead of the 2026 engine regulation change. Teams hiring at director level typically expect ownership clarity within 12 months.
The FIA has not publicly responded, but Brown's letter gives the governing body cover to tighten rules before Liberty Media's next broadcast cycle negotiation in 2025. Sponsors pay for exclusivity; a single investor controlling 30% of grid revenue share undermines category positioning. CMOs at title sponsors—McLaren's $300 million Google Cloud deal, for example—price partnerships assuming ten independent competitors, not seven teams with three shared boardrooms.
What makes this a forward signal: Brown is not blocking a specific deal. He is setting the table for the next FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, likely in September, where ownership structure amendments require only a simple majority. McLaren holds a Concorde Agreement vote but not an FIA council seat; the letter formalizes pressure that otherwise lives in paddock hallways.
Watch the FIA's Technical Working Group agenda in the next 60 days. If ownership language appears, Brown's letter worked. If not, expect a second escalation through the F1 Commission, where teams vote directly. Red Bull and Ferrari typically oppose governance expansion, but both have stable ownership and no consolidation upside. Mid-grid teams—Haas, Sauber, Alpine—face the choice: support rules that protect independence or stay silent and keep buyer optionality open.
Brown sent the letter; the FIA now decides whether to make the problem official.
The takeaway
Brown's FIA letter preempts cross-team ownership structures as **$1B+** valuations and private equity interest create consolidation risk ahead of 2025 broadcast talks.
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