McLaren CEO Zak Brown Criticizes ‘Embarrassing’ Formula 1 Team Principal Meetings and Calls for Less Team Authority in Rulemaking

"McLaren's Biggest Issue," Zak Brown Criticizes 'Humiliating' Meetings Among Team Leaders

Zak Brown, the head of McLaren, has criticized other Formula 1 teams for altering their positions on regulations for their own benefit.

McLaren Racing's CEO, Zak Brown, criticized the "humiliating" tactics used during team principal gatherings, acknowledging that F1 teams can sometimes be "our own biggest obstacle."

Brown argues that F1 teams currently wield excessive influence within the sport's framework, criticizing certain competitors for advocating for modifications to the rules based on their own interests rather than the greater good of the sport.

He specifically targeted ex-Alpine team chief Otmar Szafnauer for seemingly shifting his position on the penalty points system once it affected his racer, Pierre Gasly, at that moment.

Brown stated that Szafnauer opposed easing the regulations when McLaren's Lando Norris was facing a potential one-race suspension in 2021, yet advocated for comparable modifications when Gasly was at risk of being suspended.

"Brown admitted to feeling quite awkward during the team principal meetings," he shared with media, including Crash.net, at Silverstone.

A case in point was two years ago when Lando had accumulated enough penalty points to face a suspension, and we argued that most of these points weren't for 'dangerous' behavior. Otmar was completely opposed to our argument, as it seemed everyone was in favor of imposing a ban on Lando.

Jumping ahead a year, Gasly faces a challenge, as Otmar presents the very argument we had previously made. We were astonished, questioning ‘how could you vote against this before?’ He wasn't even aware of how he had voted. This situation is problematic as it reveals inconsistency; what benefits you one year might not the next.

Brown stated: "In order to remove this kind of self-serving vote from the equation, it's essential to step aside and allow the FIA and Formula 1 to govern in the interest of the sport's fairness. This implies that there will be victories and losses. There might be instances where we face short-term disadvantages because we would have preferred to veto something.

"I think McLaren aims to compete in a manner that's fair, sportsmanlike, and balanced, indicating that there will be moments that work in their favor and times that don't. However, over an extended period, if we're participating in a sport that prioritizes absolute fairness and ensures equality for all participants, in my opinion, that makes for a superior sporting environment. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved."

Brown expressed his desire for teams to possess "reduced power" in future rule-making decisions and advocated for the elimination of the existing voting system that demands consensus through majority approval.

He elaborated on his stance, stating, "My preference is for the teams to wield less power. They should retain their ability to influence decisions through voting on various issues, but I believe we should move away from requiring a majority for decisions to pass. Instead, adopting a straightforward '50% approval for a decision to be adopted' approach would be better, considering we all face conflicts of interest at times."

"It's essential that we return more control to Formula 1 and the FIA, allowing them to make decisions they believe are in the best interest of the sport. Often, we are the biggest obstacle to our own progress."

Explore Further

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Site Navigation

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

Reproducing the content, whether it be text, photos, or illustrations, fully or partially, is strictly prohibited in any format.