With Christian Horner out in the wild trying to get his own team, Max Verstappen pushing for his exit clause, and the already existing RB22 chassis and stability problems seeing no fix, Red Bull just can’t seem to catch a break. When you’d think that maybe this time they will finally be able to fix their problems, here comes Zak Brown with another nail in the coffin.
You see ,Zak Brown has been a vocal critic of Red Bull owning both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls for years. But now he is finally escalating the fight. Sending a letter straight to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, demanding a complete ban on dual-team ownership and strategic alliances. On paper, Brown’s criticism does make a lot of sense. But will it be that easy to fix the issue?
Death of the Minardi Excuse for Red Bull
Let’s go back to the start. When Red Bull bought the failing Minardi squad back in 2005, the FIA largely allowed it because the grid desperately needed financial stability. Two decades later, Brown argues that this “survival” excuse is completely dead. And he is kind of right, pointing out the financial reality.
You see, we are operating in the Liberty Media era, where F1 franchises are blue-chip assets. According to recent Forbes economic data, the average F1 team valuation has exploded past $3.6 billion. Red Bull Racing is currently valued at a staggering $4.35 billion, while its sister team, Racing Bulls, sits at roughly $2.3 billion.
Red Bull is not floating a struggling midfield team to save the sport; they are operating a combined $6.6 billion racing empire. As reported by RacingNews365, Brown argues that because the overwhelming majority of the grid is financially stable, continuation of the multi-team ownership “runs a high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness.”
In his letter, the McLaren CEO also expanded on how Red Bull has manipulated on-track results. He pointed to the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, where Racing Bulls boxed Daniel Ricciardo on the final lap specifically to steal the fastest lap point away from Lando Norris. This move directly benefited Max Verstappen’s title fight contention.
And also the recent Miami Grand Prix, where Liam Lawson was reportedly instructed to yield his track position to help Verstappen recover from a massive Turn 2 spin. In general, finding a fix for this whole debacle will not be easy for Ben Sulayem. While owning two teams is not the right way, taking down a $6.6 billion empire will require a brutal political war. So is the FIA ready for that? We just have to wait and watch.
