He supplies McLaren’s engines. He still said it out loud. That alone tells you how seriously Zak Brown takes this issue.

Zak Brown has put Formula 1 on notice. The McLaren CEO, long one of the sport’s most vocal critics of co-ownership structures, has made clear that any formal alliance between Mercedes and Alpine would represent a step the sport should not take, regardless of how it is framed or who is involved.

Reports have been circulating that Mercedes is considering acquiring the 24% stake in Alpine currently held by American investment group Otro Capital, a move that would make the German manufacturer a minority shareholder in the French outfit. Both parties have indicated that any such arrangement would stop well short of Alpine becoming a Mercedes junior team. But Brown’s concern is not just about the label. It is about what such a relationship makes possible over time.

“There were discussions in the Concorde Agreement about should, over time, one of the Red Bull teams be divested,” Brown said, referencing the sport’s governing commercial agreement. “But I also have a huge appreciation for what they’ve done for the sport and how that was done a long time ago. So I think as long as it’s managed and watched, the Red Bull situation is OK. But certainly adding to it, I think would be a mistake for the sport.”

The distinction Brown draws is important. He is not calling for Red Bull to be broken up. He is arguing that the existing dual-team structure represents a historical legacy that the sport has learned to manage, while opening the door to new alliances of the same kind would be a different matter entirely. A mistake made twice is no longer a mistake. It is a policy.

His concern centres on sporting integrity, a phrase that carries specific weight in an environment where teams compete for the same championship points, the same financial distributions and the same limited pool of talent. Brown pointed to several episodes from recent history where the lines between affiliated teams had blurred in ways that created competitive distortions.

He referenced the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, where a fastest lap point went to a driver whose result was seen as benefiting a sister team rather than his own campaign. He cited the 2020 controversy over Racing Point’s brake duct design (a case in which Racing Point was found to have used blueprints from Mercedes’ previous-year car, raising questions about how intellectual property flows between affiliated teams). He noted the movement of personnel between connected outfits and the financial complications this creates within the cost cap (the annual budget limit applied to each team’s spending on car development and operations).

“Can you imagine a Premier League game where you’ve got two teams owned by the same group, one’s going to get relegated if they lose, and the other can afford to lose?” he said. “That’s what we run the risk of. So I think having engine power units as suppliers is as far as it should go.”

The candour carries an obvious dimension. Mercedes supplies McLaren’s power units (the complete engine and hybrid system package, provided under a commercial agreement). Brown is publicly questioning a Mercedes business decision while running on Mercedes power. The fact that he did so anyway, without softening the message, underlines how firmly he holds this position.

He was explicit that his objection is not targeted at any specific entity. “It applies to anybody and everybody. A/B teams, co-ownership, regardless of who it is, I frown upon it. I don’t think it’s healthy for the sport. But it’s not personal or towards any one team or individual.”

On a separate thread within the same conversation, Brown was asked about Christian Horner, the former Red Bull team principal whose association with the Milton Keynes squad ended abruptly in 2025. The two had a famously competitive relationship during the years their teams battled for championships, but Brown’s tone was notably warm.

“Christian was a great personality for the sport. I think it would be great to have Christian back in the sport. He’s a great operator. His track record speaks for itself.” Brown added that he would be surprised if someone of Horner’s profile and passion for the sport stayed away permanently, whether at Alpine or elsewhere.

Two positions in a single press conference. One draws a boundary on what F1 should permit. The other offers an open door to a former rival. Both, in their own way, are statements about what Zak Brown believes the sport is worth protecting.

Thumbnail credits: Cristiano Barni | Dreamstime.com