Since 2006, Red Bull has had two teams in Formula 1 – currently known as Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB F1 Team. Although the synergies comply with the existing regulations, there has always been some controversy regarding the degree of influence of the main team (Red Bull) in its young driver program. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, addressed the issue again, being one of the main critics and suggesting that the rules could go further.
In a press conference, the American executive spoke about the aspect of real independence of the teams, using the example of Red Bull clubs in the Champions League soccer: ‘If you look at what happened in the Champions League, it was very controversial, and they had to prove total independence. And when you have shared infrastructure, you see on Netflix that the Red Bull team principal makes the decision about which driver goes to AlphaTauri. When you hear Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor] saying that they will do everything they can within the regulations to bring the two teams together. When you hear their CEO saying they need to use their own suspensions because it is the second most important component of the car, that doesn’t seem independent at all. So, I am much more interested in the independence of the ten teams than in co-ownership itself, although it enters into aspects around governance and voting’.
About the allegations of lack of profitability of the F1 teams made by Red Bull, Brown dismissed them: ‘Now with the budget cap, their CEO commented that no team is profitable. This is factually inaccurate. Of the seven teams in the UK, four were profitable last year. I don’t know about the two in Italy and the one in Switzerland, because they have a different reporting type. I presume you are profitable [referring to Frédéric Vasseur, team principal of Ferrari]. So, probably half of the grid. When I started in Formula 1, we were losing a huge amount of money. And through the combination of the budget cap, which was created for financial stability, and the hard work of our commercial team, we are now profitable’.
