Brown’s main argument was his frustration with the current decision-making process in Formula 1 – and particularly how some teams are obliged to follow their electricity supplier’s or trading partner’s lead, and how this can potentially skew the vote.
It’s been a controversial topic for decades. Of course, no team will vote against their current supplier on specific issues related to power supply regulations, and everyone understands and accepts that.
However, when that support extends to other areas and smaller teams seem to be supporting their big brothers to their own detriment, it becomes more controversial.
It is not difficult to identify the groupings. Ferrari may have recourse to Alfa Romeo and Haas, both of whom not only use Maranello technology but also currently run a young driver supported by their engine supplier. In Alfa’s case, there is also an additional direct commercial connection via the manufacturer, which gives the former Sauber outfit its name.
Mercedes has three partners. In both commercial and technological terms, ties with Aston Martin are strongest, fueled by the close personal relationship between Toto Wolff and Lawrence Stroll.
Williams is a step away, but the presence of George Russell adds an extra element, while the Grove team will also be using a Mercedes transmission starting in 2022. The relationship that Mercedes maintains at normal market conditions exists with McLaren – an uncomplicated offer for the power supply.
Of the remaining teams, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri always vote as one, reflecting their shared ownership, while Alpine is the outlier, an independent factory outfit with no ties to others.
Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, Toto Wolff, Motorsport Director of Mercedes AMG F1 and Frederic Vasseur, Sauber, Team Principal of the press conference
Brown sits at the table at team boss meetings (a virtual one these days) and becomes increasingly frustrated as he watches the equivalent of turkeys voting for Christmas. He wants secret voices that are available to be used more often.
“I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment on certain teams at certain times,” he said in Portimao last weekend.
“One example I’ll give you is when we wanted to reduce the budget cap. You have had some teams that are close to the budget cap and support a larger budget cap, which makes absolutely no sense.
“I can tell you that a lot of the time teams vote against what is in their best interests. I’ve had more than one team on more than one occasion while we talked during these meetings. [I’ll ask] How are you going to vote? And I will get an answer: “But I have no choice, I have to vote like this.”
“I don’t think secret ballots will solve all problems. But I think we really need to start working on these affiliations. And I think this is just one area that would be pretty easy to implement.
“We can vote as it is, but no one is inclined to call them. But I think how many voices around the world should they always be secret. And if we can put a rule or two in place to pave the way that is in the best interests of the sport, and therefore the fans, then that’s just one area I think we can improve on. “
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Brown says he will push for secret ballots if he can: “Sure we will welcome that. I think a team has the right to request a secret ballot. So we can either go the way with every vote and ask for a secret vote. Or we can just go to the secret ballot and be done with it.
“I think if you want to have a conflict of interest in sport that we’ve always had, you need to put in place governance to protect and combat the ability to exercise that conflict of interest. I would love to see that too [majority] The number of votes ranges from eight to seven as some people host three teams.
“So I would also like to see the threshold lowered a bit so that not a single company can influence a vote.”
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes F1 W11, Sergio Perez, race point RP20
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Votes are just one element of the broader issue of cooperation, and where the line should be drawn. Last year’s Racing Point / Mercedes copy saga put the matter back on the spot, but Brown says that didn’t prompt his current campaign.
“Aston Martin is not really driving the set-up. I think obviously Aston Martin took affiliation to a whole other level, but that really wasn’t a voting situation. The type of voting goes through the whole group of people voting on different topics, but that was not an Aston Martin situation.
“I think Aston Martin has shown that a true designer in F1 history doesn’t do that if you copy someone else’s car.”
Brown wants the team collaboration issue to be explored further: “I think it definitely needs to be addressed. I think if we look back in the history of F1, we have sold transmissions before. I think some of the collaborations that were going on back then, people buying gears, I don’t have a problem with that.
“Personally, I don’t like two teams that are partners and use the same wind tunnel. I would love to see that wind tunnel sharing is restricted when you are in a direct relationship. I think sharing wind tunnels is good again for a team that owns the wind tunnel, receives some resources, and some teams cannot afford their own wind tunnel either. “
Obviously, McLaren has its own agenda on each topic. Brown insists, however, that the team’s views are linked to those of the championship.
“I think what is best for the sport is best for McLaren,” he said. “I’m just trying to get the sport to where the best team can win. But everyone has the same size bats and the same number of players on the field, no matter what sports analogy you want to use, I think that’s in F1’s best interests. But I also think that this is in the best interests of McLaren and, frankly, of all racing teams.
“The reason is that in these four years I’ve been here, some of these meetings are getting very frustrating because, as you can imagine, they get very political. Some teams definitely have a kick-the-road strategy and things that should. When resolved in a meeting, you’ll be amazed that problems can only appear for three months, six months, a year.
“And I wanted to highlight the areas that I think are opportunities for F1 because I think F1 is in great shape. So my comment should not be critical of sports, but areas with opportunities and room for growth. “
Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, and Zak Brown, Executive Director of McLaren
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Brown’s other important point concerns the areas of expertise of the guys in the room when casting votes. The current number of team leaders is dominated by technicians and engineers, and Brown is one of the few with a background in marketing.
“In my experience, there are often issues at these meetings that we address that we don’t have the expertise to do,” he said.
“We spend most of our time on the technical side of the sport, and we need to realize that the commercial side and the importance of the fan base and entertainment are equally important, not the amount of airtime.
“And if you look around at the team bosses, most of them have a technical background. And since I have a more commercial marketing background, I think these are the areas I want to bring up again. I think that’s in the best interests of the sport. And the faster we can change, the faster we can accelerate the growth of F1. “
Brown cites his team leaders’ lack of personal engagement on social media as a sign that they’re not in touch as they could or should.
“What I suggested, and I have one at McLaren today, and I’ve had one all my business life, is an advisory group,” he said.
“We’re going to be in a meeting talking on social media, and I’m just using this as an example, but you’ve probably got seven out of ten people at the table who aren’t even on social media.
“And that’s exactly what drives our social media conversations. I think the sport could use a marketing council or advisory group whatever you want to call it. People with expertise. “
The logical extension of Brown’s continued frustration with his team leaders would be to remove them (and therefore himself) from the decision-making process.
“I would support that,” he said. “I could see that we are like a commissioner, which is obviously Stefano [Domenicali]. And that’s what they do in the NFL, they vote in the commissioner, but then the commissioner’s nature has power. And really the only power teams have is to remove the commissioner if they think he isn’t or she’s not doing a good job.
“I believe that F1 and FIA will always work in the best interests of the sport and the best interests of the fans. And I’d rather go to extremes to give them total control than what we have now.
“My agenda is if we level the playing field it is in McLaren’s best interests so that we can compete fairly and bring the same number of players onto the field as other teams, because right now it’s not over balance.
“But with the new regulations, it’s gotten a lot better. In all that I put forward, I see this opportunity as an even better one, rather than being critical, because I think we have come a long way in the last three years. “
When the pandemic broke out a year ago, the teams, in close collaboration with FIA President Jean Todt and then F1 boss Chase Carey, made some important decisions – in particular postponing the new rules to 2022. It was about keeping the sport going during the crisis to keep alive and everyone understood that.
However, it was far from easy to define important details such as a reduced budget cap.
“Jean and Chase wanted a budget cap of $ 135 million,” says Brown. “I think they might even have gotten a little lower, maybe $ 125 million. We finally got there, but you get to it by a lot of arm wrestling and it will take you longer to get there.
“The sport will grow faster if we make faster decisions. There will be some bugs along the way. Then you give F1 and the FIA the opportunity to correct some of these mistakes. I don’t think anyone is perfect, there is no perfect solution. “
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