Zak Brown Files FIA Letter Seeking Ban on Common F1 Team Ownership Structures

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown submitted a formal letter to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile requesting rule changes that would explicitly prohibit common ownership structures across multiple Formula 1 teams. The letter, confirmed by sources familiar with the filing, marks the first documented regulatory intervention attempt by a team principal on ownership architecture since Liberty Media's $4.4 billion acquisition of Formula 1 in 2017.

Brown's letter does not reference a specific pending transaction. Current FIA regulations permit a single entity to hold interests in multiple teams provided operational independence is maintained and no technical data flows between garages. The rule has existed in various forms since the 1980s but has never been tested by a major institutional investor attempting to acquire stakes in more than one constructor simultaneously. Brown's letter seeks to eliminate that theoretical path entirely, sources said.

The timing matters. Three separate sovereign wealth funds and two North American family offices have conducted preliminary diligence on F1 team acquisitions in the past 18 months, according to advisors who worked those processes. None progressed to term sheets, but the diligence requests included questions about whether minority stakes in multiple teams could be structured to avoid conflict-of-interest provisions. One Middle Eastern fund specifically modeled a portfolio approach: 25% stakes in three mid-grid teams, leveraged against shared back-office infrastructure and centralized sponsorship sales. The fund's advisors concluded the structure was technically permissible under current FIA language, though commercially unworkable given paddock politics.

Brown's move also follows six months of unusually detailed questions from the FIA's compliance office to all ten teams regarding beneficial ownership disclosures and related-party transactions. The questionnaires, sent in September, required teams to map all entities within three corporate layers of their racing operations and disclose any shared investors above 10% stakes. Teams submitted responses in November. The FIA has not published findings, but two team CFOs separately described the exercise as "more thorough than anything we've seen."

McLaren itself sits inside a complex structure. Zak Brown operates McLaren Racing, which fields the F1 team and runs IndyCar and Formula E entries. The racing division is owned by McLaren Group, which also contains McLaren Automotive. Bahrain's Mumtalakat sovereign fund owns 60% of McLaren Group after a $600 million recapitalization in 2020. MSP Sports Capital, the American investment vehicle, holds 33% after converting a $185 million loan in 2022. Brown has publicly stated that MSP explored acquiring stakes in other motorsport properties before choosing McLaren, though he has not named those properties.

The regulatory ask creates tension with Liberty Media's stated goal of increasing team valuations to attract institutional capital. Liberty CEO Greg Maffei told analysts in October that F1 team values had "likely doubled" since 2020, pointing to Audi's $656 million entry price for the Sauber operation as evidence of the asset class maturing. Institutional investors typically seek portfolio diversification, and a hard prohibition on multi-team stakes reduces the addressable buyer universe for teams looking to raise capital or sell minority positions.

Brown's letter does not specify penalty structures or suggest an enforcement mechanism beyond existing FIA compliance processes. The FIA's World Motor Sport Council meets next on March 14 in Bahrain, the week before the season opener. Regulatory changes require simple majority approval from the ten-member council, which includes three FIA-appointed members and seven elected representatives from national sporting authorities. Team principals do not vote but can submit written comments, which Brown has now done.

The last comparable governance intervention came from Toto Wolff in 2019, when Mercedes requested rule changes around customer engine parity after Racing Point's brake duct controversy. That letter resulted in a technical directive within 90 days but no formal regulation change. Brown's letter targets commercial structure rather than technical regulations, placing it under the FIA's sporting code rather than its technical working group, a distinction that typically means longer review timelines but fewer veto points.

Watch whether other teams file supporting or opposing letters before the March council meeting. Haas, which operates on the grid's smallest budget and has periodically explored sale processes, would theoretically benefit from a larger buyer pool. Red Bull Racing, which already operates two teams under a grandfather clause from the Toro Rosso era, has institutional reasons to oppose new restrictions. The FIA has 21 days from receipt to acknowledge formal governance requests, putting Brown's letter on the public docket by mid-February.