The methods by which Formula One is managed surprisingly something of a meritocracy. Of course on track the best car and the best driver determine the where the championships rest at the end of each season, but the running of the sport has not always been as smooth as a newly resurfaced circuit.

As the sport was emerging from racing in the fields of Europe, the FISA-FOCA war broke out during there late 1970’s. The Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) – an autonomous sub-committee of the FIA – laid claim to unilateral governance of F1 while the smaller teams affiliated with the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) which was the equivalent of a union. Such was the level of dispute between the organisations the result was a boycott of the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix.

Much of the disputes were about money and regulations the teams other than Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo, believed there was a perceived bias against them in favour of the larger competitors. Further there were battles revolving around the way the proceeds were disbursed and that regulations were massaged according to the transgressor rather than the nature of the transgression.

 

 

 

FISA-FOCA wars resolved

Much of this was to change with the introduction of the first Concorde Agreement (1982) which legally bound the teams, the FIA and the commercial rights holder through it was through the further evolutions of new Concorde Agreements where the governance issues and the division of finance became broadly acceptable for all involved.

Today the future of there sport is broadly debated and agreed at the F1 Commission where all parties to the latest Concorde Agreement have an equal say. Yet McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown believes the teams in fact now have too much power and some of it should be ceded back to FOM and the FIA.

Brown has proven to be a controversial figure in the Formula One paddock because the American is not afraid of speaking his mind regardless of who he upsets. He famously penned a letter to the FIA, which was leaked, calling for the sport’s governing body to severely punish Red Bull for the cost cap breach describing it as “cheating.”

Christian Horner enraged at the accusations called a special press conference the year in Austin Texas told the assembled media, “It’s absolutely shocking that another competitor, without the facts, without the details can be making that kind of accusation.”

He went on to outline the abuse children of his employees had received in the playground as a result of such slanderous accusations from the McLaren boss concluding,  “We’ve been tried and subjected to three weeks of effective abuse,” he insisted. “It’s just not right. This has to stop.”

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Brown: “A lack of respect”

Again this year Brown attacked Horner and the Red Bull team following the battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at this season’s Austrian Grand Prix. The pair dulled for the lead of the race until lap 64 when they came together at turn three. 

Norris was forced to retire his car while Verstappen received a ten second penalty for causing the collision. Yet at the end of the Grand Prix Red Bull team radio backed Verstappen stating it was not his fault, suggesting even that Norris was to blame.

“We’ve seen a lack of respect (at Red Bull), whether it’s financial regulations or sporting on-track issues, or with fathers and things of that nature,” said Brown ahead of the British Grand Prix.

“We should guide our drivers on what is right or wrong. Had it been addressed earlier then maybe that incident wouldn’t have taken place.”

Lawson test day “underwhelmed” Red Bull

 

 

 

“Embarrassing” team principal meetings

Now the CEO of McLaren is hitting out at Alpine for double standards and claims the team’s have too much power in Formula One. He describes how its “embarrassing” at team principal’s meetings and claims the F1 teams are “our own worst problem at times”.

Brown described how former Alpine boss, Otmar Szafnauer, performed a U-Turn over his position on the penalty points system awarded by race stewards to drivers considered to have behaved “dangerously.”

In 2021 Lando Norris was on the verge of a one race ban having racked up most of the 12 points required for this automatic discipline to be applied. Brown now claims Szafnauer refused to countenance a softening of the criteria then later when his won driver was at risk of missing a Grand Prix weekend, requested a change in the penalty points rules.

“It can be pretty embarrassing in times in the team principal meetings,” Brown told assembled media at Silverstone. “An example being when Lando was up on penalty points two years ago, and we made our case that, actually, the majority of those penalty points weren’t ‘dangerous’ and Otmar was totally against it, because obviously everyone wanted to give Lando a ban.

Insider: Audi corporate interference

 

 

 

McLaren’s values “fair and sporting”

“Fast-forward 12 months, Gasly’s up against it, Otmar brings forward the same exact case that we brought forward and we were like ‘dude, you voted against that?’ He didn’t even know where he voted. And that’s not healthy, because it shows that one year it might work for you, the following year it might not work for you,” claims Brown.

The boss of the Papaya liveried team argues the FIA should change the regulations to prevent teams voting on matters purely out of self interest. “I think you’ve just got to stand back and let the FIA and Formula 1 regulate for the fairness of the sport. Which means you’re going to win some, lose some. There could be some times that we lose in the short-term, because we would have liked to block something.”

Claiming McLaren’s values are “fair and sporting”, Zak believes in the principle of ‘you win some, you lose some’ and that over time it all equals itself out. He also calls for the teams to have a diminished    input into the regulation discussions calling for a sim pole majority vote to replace the current system of representation. 

“I’d like to see the teams have less authority,” he explained. “[Still] as much of a voice, through voting for all these different things that we vote on, but I’d like to see us get rid of majority votes and get to a simple ‘50%, something gets through’ because we’re all conflicted in some way at some point.

New Haas driver breaks silence

 

 

 

Brown calls for change in F1 voting

“We do need to give more of the power back to Formula 1 and the FIA to do what they think is right for the sport. I think we’re our own worst problem at times.”

Yet the reality of Brown’s suggestion is a simple majority voting system will empower the teams even more. The bar will be set much lower to implement change and influence will be given to smaller groups.

Brown should known better having joined the ‘Piraña Club’ under a McLaren restructure back in 2018. At the F1 commission, the teams have collectively one third of the votes, along with the FIA and the commercial rights holders.

Formula One is in fact influenced in many different ways by pressure groups. The new power unit regulations coming in 2026 are a prime example. Here manufacturers claiming to want to join the sport joined Mercedes who believed hybrid was the future of road car technology and so they pressed to retain the current monsters and increase their weight and displacement area.

Marko reacts to Verstappen move to Mercedes

 

 

 

F1 chief wants to cancel hybrids

In the interim hybrids have been proven to not be the future for road car technology as Red Bull argued at the time. Horner and his team claimed a return to combustion V8 engines with 100% bio fuel was the way to go, which would deliver smaller, lighter and more nimble racing cars rather than the Behemoth’s we will all suffer into the 2030’s.

At the recent unveiling of the FIA’s 2026 regulations, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali appeared to support Red Bull’s original position stating:  “My personal opinion is that it would be sufficient to use climate-neutral fuel,” he told AMuS. “However, we had to take the manufacturers’ wishes into account.

With one eye on the 2 billion vehicles currently in existence around the world which have no hybrid or electrical power, Formula One could have championed new bio fuels and retro fitted systems to decarbonise the existing fleet which will exist in its current form for decades to come.

“We don’t want to fight against electric vehicles, but rather open people’s eyes to the fact that there are other technologies to reach the goal. And we need to promote our sport by showing everyone that Formula 1 is ahead of everyone else in the development of these fuels,” Domenicali concluded.

McLaren’s review not fundamental says Stella

 

 

 

Steiner: Gene Haas could sell to Andretti

The Haas Formula One team is like no other currently on the grid today. The team was formed quickly for the 2016 season and set about a new approach to designing and building an F1 car.

A partnership with Ferrari saw Haas buy not just engines but other mechanical components vital to the running of the car in line with the FIA’s prescribed ‘listed parts’ exemptions. 

Much of the rest of the car is outsourced to Italian company Dallara and while the other teams perform this in house due to FIA intellectual property rules, Haas third party arrangement fulfils the governing bodies criteria even though their deigns are not ‘in house.’   READ MORE