Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies has indicated his team would support stricter regulations ensuring complete independence between Formula 1 teams, responding to McLaren CEO Zak Brown’s recent letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem calling for a ban on dual-team ownership in the sport.
Brown’s correspondence continues his ongoing campaign against multi-team ownership structures, citing concerns about true independence in competition. Currently, nine of F1’s 11 teams operate under separate ownership, while Red Bull GmbH controls both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri), an arrangement that has existed since 2006. Brown has drawn comparisons to other sports like football, where UEFA prohibits teams under common ownership from competing in the same tournaments.
The McLaren chief has raised specific concerns about the relationship between the two Red Bull-owned teams, including Mekies’ own transfer from Racing Bulls team principal to Red Bull boss in July 2025, replacing Christian Horner. Brown questioned why Mekies didn’t serve the typical gardening leave period expected for such senior moves between rival teams. He also cited incidents like Max Verstappen’s controversial pass of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in Miami, where the Red Bull driver appeared to force his sister team’s car off track without consequence.
Responding to these criticisms, Mekies emphasized Red Bull’s commitment to competitive independence while remaining open to additional safeguards. “We all want 11 teams racing independently on track, and we have made many steps as a sport in recent weeks, in recent months, in recent years, to try to ensure more and more independence from every team racing on track,” Mekies told media outlets including RacingNews365.
The Red Bull executive stressed that his organization would support any measures deemed necessary by stakeholders to ensure genuine independence, regardless of ownership structures. “We are completely supportive of taking any further step to ensure that, regardless of our strategic partnership or regardless of our ownership structure, we race independently on track,” Mekies stated, acknowledging the various forms of collaboration already present in F1 through power unit supplies, gearbox sharing, and partial ownership arrangements across different teams.