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Alpine and Mercedes have addressed concerns within the FIA as they discuss a potential investment deal.
Otro Capital, who own 24% of the Alpine team, are looking to sell their stake, and it emerged in March that Mercedes were interested. This has naturally raised concerns about sporting integrity, even if it wouldn’t quite mirror the dual ownership arrangement at Red Bull and Racing Bulls.
A leading critic of that relationship for years, Zak Brown says Mercedes buying Alpine shares wouldn’t be ‘healthy’. He wants each team to operate as ‘independently’ as possible.
Mercedes reportedly want to buy a 24% stake in Alpine, but should this be allowed?
After reports that the FIA could ‘block’ the Mercedes/Alpine deal, president Mohammed Ben Sulayem recently went public on the issue.
Alpine and Mercedes respond to FIA fears over investment deal
Ben Sulayem says the FIA are ‘looking into’ multi-team ownership, partly because it could give certain competitors too much voting power when rule changes are under discussion. He’s concerned that fans will stop tuning in if the ‘sporting spirit’ is compromised.
A report from RACER reiterates that Mercedes are Renault’s preferred bidder in the competition for the Otro stake. The French manufacturer, who recently shut down their F1 engine division and bought Mercedes engines instead, would still own 76% of the business.
Sources on both sides of the proposed deal have told the publication that it would be a ‘purely financial’ arrangement. Mercedes would not acquire a ‘controlling interest’ in the team.
This aligns with comments from Toto Wolff, who said Mercedes wouldn’t turn Alpine into a ‘junior team’, a tag that is occasionally used for Racing Bulls. It remains to be seen whether they can satisfy the sport’s governing body: the regulations require each team to operate as an independent entity.
The two parties haven’t yet agreed on a valuation for the Otro stake, but estimates place it around $600m (£443m), via Blackbook Motorsport.
Christian Horner now legally free to buy another F1 team
Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has also held negotiations with Otro and Renault. While their preference is to sell to Mercedes, a deal with Horner may not raise the same regulatory hurdles.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem expects to see Christian Horner return to F1. Which team would be his best landing spot?
Under the terms of his Red Bull exit (negotiated last summer), Horner is free to begin working for another F1 team from this week. That may or may not speed up the process.
In terms of other F1 teams, Horner has been linked most strongly with Aston Martin, but a multitude of options are still on the table, including setting up his own squad and switching to MotoGP.
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