The FIA is set to increase scrutiny on so-called ‘sister teams’ within Formula 1. The governing body aims to prevent certain teams from gaining unfair advantages through their collaboration with another racing stable on the grid. The FIA’s move appears to be a response to criticism, including previous remarks from Zak Brown, regarding the association between Red Bull and Racing Bulls.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has long been the primary critic of the collaboration between sister teams Red Bull and Racing Bulls. In early 2024, the American expressed his concerns about the association between the two racing stables to the FIA. According to Brown, the playing field within Formula 1 is not equal as a result. The issue resurfaced that same year during the Singapore GP when then Racing Bulls driver Daniel Ricciardo snatched the World Championship point for the fastest race lap from McLaren driver Lando Norris. The Australian thus aided Max Verstappen in his pursuit of his fourth world title.”The new stricter supervision from the FIA on sister teams will not prohibit all collaborations between teams, but the governing body is aiming for a stricter separation, both physically and digitally. “We are introducing IT regulations to ensure that the systems remain separate, and there will also be a physical separation,” FIA chief Nikolas Tombazis tells The Race.
Haas and Ferrari
The new regulations will come into effect in 2026, and are intended to formalize what exactly constitutes an acceptable collaboration between racing stables. “If a team is independent, but has commercial relationships with another team, we do not want that to determine what happens on the track,” Tombazis continues. “The goal of all this is for teams to be able to adopt different economic models, like Haas.” The American Haas is an independent smaller team, and therefore buys many parts for the cars from Ferrari.
“We are trying to formalize the permitted degree of collaboration, so that teams can each play their own game,” Tombazis concludes. “We also want to accommodate teams that do not have these kinds of agreements, so that teams with commercial ties do not gain an unfair advantage.” What the consequences will be for the collaboration between Red Bull and Racing Bulls is still unclear.
