"Zak is doing Wolff’s bidding again": Fans react to McLaren boss Zak Brown's jibe at Red Bull having two teams

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has indirectly criticized Red Bull for having two teams in Formula 1, something that should not be the case in the sport since it gives them an unfair advantage. The Austrian-British team has a sister team named AlphaTauri that might operate separately in Faenza but is heavily influenced by the seniors at Red Bull.

In an open letter on mclaren.com, Brown claimed that several major sports do not allow two teams owned by the same parent company. He feels that having two teams in Formula 1 gives both competitors an unfair advantage as they can share strategies, data, and even parts with one another.

"Most other major sports prohibit the ownership of two teams within the same league because of the obvious potential damage that it does to competition. It’s an unhealthy situation because it impacts decisions made both on and off the track. Whether it’s a case of having access to more data, sharing components/personnel, or even having influence over a strategic vote, it’s not in the spirit of the regulations," wrote the McLaren CEO.

Soon after this open letter from Zak Browk was published, loads of F1 fans reacted to it. While some joked about how McLaren's CEO is taking sides with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to criticize Red Bull, others discussed why he is protesting about two teams under the same owner after so many years.

Here are some reactions from fans on X:

"Zak is doing Wolff’s bidding again"

"Red Bull has owned a sister team for almost two decades now and its suddenly a major issue for Zak Brown. I wonder why. I wonder what's changed. hm"

---

McLaren team boss wary of Red Bull's dominance in 2024

Mclaren CEO Zak Brown recently spoke about how Red Bull could once again be dominant in the 2024 F1 season, mainly because of their early development of their new car. Teams that usually dominate a season leave the development of their current car and start focusing on next year's machine.

Speaking to Sky Sports in Japan, Brown suspected the reigning world champions to have already started working on their 2024 car.

"I think we’ll be competitive around here. Max is back in the front again, so it was fun while it lasted. I would imagine that given Red Bull’s dominance, they turned off their development quicker than others to focus on next year’s car. So that’s a bit scary what might be coming," he said.

Red Bull ended the 2023 F1 season in the top spot by scoring 860 points, more than half the points ahead of second-placed Mercedes.