Formula One's governing body confirmed it will review whether teams can hold ownership stakes in rivals after Mercedes' parent company appeared in financing talks around Aston Martin. The FIA announced the governance examination three days after McLaren CEO Zak Brown sent a formal letter to President Mohammed Ben Sulayem requesting rule changes that would explicitly prohibit cross-team ownership structures.
The timing is deliberate. Mercedes' commercial arm has been named in discussions around a minority position in Aston Martin valued near $650 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Lawrence Stroll controls Aston Martin F1 Racing separately from the road-car business, but the brands share naming rights and technology agreements that make any Mercedes involvement structurally complex. The FIA's current Sporting Regulations contain no explicit prohibition on one constructor owning equity in another, a gap Brown's letter directly targets.
This matters because the paddock has operated under implicit conflict-of-interest norms rather than codified ownership barriers. McLaren's intervention—delivered in writing to the FIA president rather than through the usual F1 Commission channels—signals Brown believes those norms are insufficient. His letter arrives as Aston Martin seeks capital for its $300 million Silverstone factory expansion and as Mercedes evaluates whether minority stakes in teams outside its works operation make strategic sense ahead of the 2026 powertrain regulations. If the FIA formalizes restrictions now, it forecloses what could become a common financing structure in a sport where team valuations have tripled since 2018.
The governance review also creates leverage for teams arguing against manufacturer consolidation. Red Bull Racing, Alpine, and Haas have no OEM parent; Williams sources engines from Mercedes but remains independently owned. If Mercedes or another manufacturer acquires even 15% of a rival, it shifts competitive intelligence flows and creates principal-agent problems the FIA would then need to police. Brown's letter essentially asks the FIA to prevent scenarios where a manufacturer team principal sits in Strategy Group meetings knowing his employer owns part of the outfit he's racing against.
The FIA has not specified a timeline but indicated the review will involve the F1 Commission, which includes ten team representatives alongside Formula One Management and governing-body officials. That structure guarantees the issue will surface at the next Commission meeting, expected late May before the Monaco Grand Prix. Any rule change would require approval from the World Motor Sport Council, which meets quarterly.
Mercedes has not confirmed the Aston Martin talks and declined to comment on the governance review. Aston Martin F1 said it does not comment on shareholder speculation. Brown's letter, obtained by multiple outlets, does not name Mercedes but references "potential common ownership structures" that could "undermine competitive integrity." The McLaren CEO has previously opposed customer-team arrangements that allow manufacturers to control satellite operations, a related but distinct governance question.
What complicates the review is that partial ownership already exists in adjacent forms. Red Bull owns both its works team and the AlphaTauri operation, rebranded RB for 2024. Haas uses Ferrari powertrain and suspension components under technical partnerships that stop short of equity but create dependence. The line between a 20% minority stake and a comprehensive technical alliance is not obvious, and the FIA will need to define it if it intends to restrict one without banning the other.
Watch whether Mercedes proceeds with any Aston Martin investment before the FIA formalizes new restrictions, or whether the governance review itself functions as a blocking mechanism. Also watch Alpine's ownership situation—Renault Group has explored minority investors for its F1 team, and any prohibition on cross-team stakes would apply to outside private equity as well if written broadly. The F1 Commission meeting in late May will clarify whether this is symbolic consultation or whether the FIA intends to codify new equity barriers ahead of the 2026 regulation cycle, when manufacturer entries and team valuations will reset. Brown's letter named no one, but everyone in the paddock knows who it was written about.
The takeaway
FIA governance review on multi-team ownership follows McLaren CEO's formal letter; Mercedes-Aston Martin stake talks force explicit rules where implicit norms existed.
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