Zak Brown has reiterated his opposition to co-ownership and ties between Formula 1 teams in the paddock, claiming that it is unfair to independent outfits.

The Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing has always expressed strong views regarding collaboration between two or more teams on the grid, particularly with regards to the ties, team games and financial workarounds carried out between Red Bull and Racing Bulls in recent years.

McLaren are due to start working with Red Bull’s Head of Racing Gianpiero Lambiase from 2028 onwards. This is when the British-Italian’s contract expires with Red Bull, which largely prevents him from joining the Woking-based outfit any sooner.

This is a point of grievance for Brown, as is the fact that it likely costs McLaren more to hire someone from a rival team than it is for two collaborating teams to transfer personnel from one to the other.

Speaking to written media including GrandPrix247 at an event at the McLaren Technology Centre earlier this week, Brown was questioned as to whether his views on team collaborations have changed in recent times.

Are there really 11 teams on the grid?

His response was definitive: “It hasn't changed it at all. I think I've been consistent. I think co-ownership, which we have one group now, and I understand how that came about, I think it runs a real high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness.

“I’ve been vocal about it from day one, we’ve seen it play out on track in a sporting way. Daniel Ricciardo taking the fastest lap point away from us to help the other team. We’ve seen IP violations on the Aston Martin/Racing Point with their brake ducts, we’ve seen employees move overnight, where we’ve had to wait and sometimes make financial deals, which then impacts us on the cost cap. That’s an unfair advantage,” exclaimed the McLaren boss.

Brown continued by providing an imaginary comparison to Premier League football.

He stated: “Can you imagine a Premier League game when you've got two teams owned by the same group. One's going to get relegated if they lose, the other can afford to lose [so the latter team will lose against the former on purpose to enable both teams to remain in the league].

“That’s what we run the risk of so I think having engine power units as suppliers is as far as it should go. And then, in my view, all 11 teams should be absolutely as independent as possible, because we have seen it compromise the integrity of the sport, and that is what will turn fans off quicker than anything else,” concluded the American CEO.