Liberty must address F1 B-team business model – Brown

McLaren chief Zak Brown is eager to see Formula 1 owners Liberty Media clearly define rules between what teams can share to produce tighter restrictions on a “B-team business model”.

The Woking-based team were beaten by Haas in the battle for fifth place in last season’s F1 world constructors’ championship, the US squad ending the year 31 points clear, despite being accused of being a Ferrari B-team and whether that broke the sport’s rules.

While Haas were cleared of any wrongdoing, aside from Romain Grosjean’s Italian Grand Prix disqualification for an illegal car floor which wasn't related to B-team claims, Brown was eager to share praise on Haas following its rise to fifth place in just its third year of competing in F1.

The McLaren CEO feels future rules need clarity and address what teams can share from technical knowledge to political power.

“I think Haas has done an excellent, excellent job given their resources and how young the racing team is. You have to admire what they have done,” Brown said.

“I think Liberty are going to address the ‘B-team business model’ because I think it allows the big teams to benefit from the B-team. The benefits are everything from technical, to political, to, we’ve seen, on track activities this year that people believe were questionable.

“I think all three of those scenarios is not what Formula 1 is about and need to change for the health of the sport, and I believe they will. Liberty have that in their plan, to address B-teams and to what degree you can be a B-team.”

Brown understands the mutual benefits of having a B-team model for both parties, and feels Ferrari has enjoyed gains from its Haas partnership, but underlined the flaw of the B-team position which could trigger a two-tier F1 world championship.

“Our belief is a B-team will never be able to compete with the A-team and therefore while maybe going to that business model in the very short-term could make you more competitive quicker and be fiscally a better proposition, I think you are giving up on any hopes of racing as a championship contender,” he said.

“Therefore going for B-team status would be throwing in the towel of being a championship contender.

“We think it is critical that Liberty, in the new Formula 1 world, addresses that so all teams can have a fair and equal chance to compete for the championship on a more level playing field.”