McLaren boss Zak Brown never misses a chance to attack Red Bull for their association with their sister team, Visa Cash App RB. He has often called for changes to the regulations, which gives the latter an unfair advantage. Red Bull has always defended these attacks from Brown and others. Their star driver Max Verstappen, however, did not stand for his team.
Verstappen, said to Motorsport as quoted by RBR News, “That is a constant tactic in F1, one that is always used. That does not only apply to this story, but that is always the case and is typical for F1. That is one hundred percent typical F1.”
The Dutchman added that people uses tactics like this in F1 to pull away one’s advantage, and it is very normal for teams to work together. The fact that they are partners, helps both of them in ways that doesn’t assist their competitors. They often share parts, which eases the burden on the team’s finances, especially considering the fact that today, they all adhere to a strict cost-cap.
Red Bull GmbH, the parent company in Austria owns both Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB. Dietrich Mateschitz bought Jaguar and Minardi back in 2005. He then rebranded them to Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso respectively. The latter went on to be known as AlphaTauri between 2020 and 2023. Today, they are known as Visa Cash App RB.
To many, however, the association between Red Bull and VCARB creates a blockade in the FIA’s efforts to create a level playing field. It is something that Brown has pointed out in several interviews, and Max Verstappen does not deny these accusations.
Zak Brown’s take on Red Bull-VCARB unison
Zak Brown always questioned how Red Bull and VCARB get to use the advantage of co-ownership. He believes such a setting creates enormous conflict of interest. Moving forward, from 2024 onwards, he wants the FIA to bring out stricter rules that ban joint ownerships like this.
The McLaren boss said to Sky Sports, “We have some work to do around the rules. I think any time you have an entity that owns two teams, or an A and B relationship, I think it really starts to compromise the integrity of sporting fairness. That’s something that really needs to be tackled.”
The FIA allows certain parts to be exchanged between teams. This helps them financially, easing the burden in this cost-cap era. 2026 onwards, if Red Bull’s partnership with Ford resumes, their powertrains department will be very closely linked. This is bound to make Brown and other people in the F1 community even more upset.
