It was a situation Brown touched on last year, and he chose the unveiling of his team’s new livery – at which Speedcafe was present – to again demand changes after witnessing what unfolded at the end of last season.
Red Bull made it clear it stopped development on its all-conquering RB19 in August as it instead focused on this year’s RB20, which team principal Christian Horner remarked would be “evolution not revolution”.
Sister team AlphaTauri, however, staged a late surge following upgrades on the car that allowed it to rise from 10th in the constructors’ standings to eighth.
There were suggestions at the time the car had been developed with Red Bull in mind given the ATR restrictions in place up until mid-October as punishment for flouting the 2021 budget cap regulations. Horner strongly dismissed the accusation.
AlphaTauri’s ties to Red Bull are due to grow closer this year, a point made clear when Peter Bayer took up the post of CEO last season, which Brown feels is wholly unnecessary given the budget cap.
“I’m concerned over the AlphaTauri/Red Bull alliance,” said Brown. “AlphaTauri, from what I understand, is moving to the UK, which I think will benefit both teams.
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“So this A/B team, and this co-ownership, which is a whole other level of A/B team, is of big concern to us for the health of the sport, the fairness of the sport.
“To have teams teaming up is against the spirit of what the definition of a constructor is. Not only does it help the B team, but I believe it also helps the A team, so this isn’t about one team benefiting, I think both teams benefit.
Brown feels F1 has moved on from a period when regulations were introduced that allow a team to buy specified components, such as gearbox and suspension.
“When these (rules) were put in place, the sport was in a different place,” remarked Brown. “You had a huge gap between people like ourselves, with huge budgets, and smaller teams.
“Now everybody’s pretty much at the cap, so I think everyone’s playing with the same size bat, to use a baseball term.
“Therefore, that’s not necessary, but it might give someone an unfair advantage, and I think that’s something we need to tackle in the sport, and quickly, to make sure that we have 10 independent constructors.
“It (co-ownership) is pretty much not allowed in any other form of major sport.
“So I’d like to see us, as an industry, focus on that before it gets to a level of being where Formula 1 once was, which is very out of balance because people are playing by the rules, but a different set of rules.”
Following the introduction of upgrades in Austria and Singapore last year on the MCL60, McLaren finished last season strongly, rising to fourth in the constructors’ standings.
From Austria onwards, Lando Norris was second only to champion Max Verstappen in terms of points scored, with the Briton and team-mate Oscar Piastri often challenging for podiums. Piastri even scored a sprint win in Qatar.
Brown insists “car development has been strong” over the winter, and is now looking for McLaren to continue to close the gap on Red Bull.
Brown, though, is worried that Red Bull’s focus on the RB20 over the second half of last season could deliver another runaway performance.
“Red Bull certainly seems like they didn’t develop last year to the level they could have if they wanted to, so that could be an unpleasant surprise for all of us,” he said.
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