McLaren boss Zak Brown on Monday called for stronger leadership in Formula 1 to reduce the power of larger teams and prevent motorsport’s premier class from becoming pantomime.
In an article about the coming year on McLaren’s website, Brown said some rivals were “looking for excuses to raise the cost cap and win checkbook world championships” while also gaining an advantage with B-Teams.
Without naming names, the American said “at times it seemed like the sport was being ruled by certain teams” and that more leadership was needed from Liberty Media-owned Formula 1 and the ruling FIA.
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The FIA last month elected a new president, Emirati Mohammed Ben Sulayem, in place of Frenchman Jean Todt, while Italian Stefano Domenicali took over as Formula One boss last year.
The 2021 season ended in turmoil as Mercedes race director Michael Masi accused Lewis Hamilton of robbing the eighth crown with a late change in safety car procedure that favored Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who clinched the title.
Both Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner spoke to Masi over the radio during the race and the Australian official’s future remains uncertain, with some claiming his position has become untenable.
Brown said the past has been characterized by “a mainly autocratic style of government”, a nod to decades under former supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and that a more consultative approach was needed to reshape the sport.
“To move forward, we need to move back to stronger, more direct leadership and governance at the top of the sport,” said the American.
“It is clear that some of the rules and their governance are not acceptable from today’s perspective.”
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Brown said the teams contributed to disagreements over how the regulations were enforced and voted for many of the rules they are now complaining about.
He suggested that the Abu Dhabi events, which are the subject of an investigation by the governing body, resulted from systemic failures with “an apparent lack of preparation for the unfolding events and a temporary inertia in resolutions”.
“It’s the teams that have put the pressure on to avoid finishing races under a safety car at all costs,” he noted.
“It’s the teams that have used the transmission of radio messages to the race director to try to influence penalties and race results, to the point where an over-excited team principal is playing into the stands and pressuring race officials.
“It wasn’t edifying for F1. At times it felt more like a pantomime audition than the pinnacle of a global sport.”
