Formula 1 chiefs want Red Bull to sell Racing Bulls and remove the issue of multi-team ownership, and they might have now come up with a plan that Red Bull would accept.
Red Bull have enjoyed the rare position of owning two F1 teams for the past decade, having first bought the ailing Jaguar crew from Ford before taking over Minardi. Jaguar became the main Red Bull team ahead of the 2005 season, while Minardi became Toro Rosso from 2006.
The position that Red Bull enjoy by owning two teams has often been a point of contention, with the junior crew – which rebranded as AlphaTauri in 2020 and then Racing Bulls in 2024 – occasionally used tactically in races. Red Bull freely moving staff and drivers between their two teams has also frequently irked their rivals, none more so than McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
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F1 bosses will ensure any new Racing Bulls owner maintains close ties with Red Bull
It became known last week that Brown has sent a letter to the FIA demanding it ends multi-team ownership in F1, with the McLaren chief even citing recent issues he has had with Red Bull. Brown has long been an advocate for F1 banning multi-team ownership, like Red Bull’s.
READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

For example, Brown took issue with Laurent Mekies moving up from Racing Bulls to replace Christian Horner as Red Bull’s team principal in July last year without serving any gardening leave. He also noted how Racing Bulls ordered Liam Lawson to let Max Verstappen through in the 2026 Miami Grand Prix when the Red Bull star had actually run the Kiwi off the track.
Now, F1 bosses are also ‘trying to find a solution’ that Red Bull would accept for them to sell Racing Bulls. That is according to Auto Action (May 2026, page 24), which reports that there is a desire among F1 chiefs to put together a deal for Red Bull to put Racing Bulls up for sale.
Any deal for the parent Red Bull GmbH company to sell Racing Bulls will likely require F1 to find a buyer willing to offer ‘guarantees’ that the Faenza squad must continue as a Red Bull Powertrains engine customer. The team will also need to keep very close ties with Red Bull.
F1 bosses expect Racing Bulls, should they be sold, would need to continue fielding at least one Red Bull-backed driver and buy technology from the Milton Keynes natives to appease Red Bull GmbH. It is also thought that Racing Bulls will have to be valued at £1.5bn, at least.
All of the likely ‘constraints’ that a future owner would have to agree to are considered an obstacle, however, as F1 will find it difficult to find Red Bull a buyer for Racing Bulls who will happily accept all of the conditions. Red Bull are even said to be reluctant to sell right now.
It has recently been said that Red Bull insist they should not be forced to sell Racing Bulls, as they point out that Minardi would have fallen off the grid had they not taken the team over and renamed them Toro Rosso. Red Bull have also spent a huge amount running two teams.
But should the parent Red Bull GmbH company agree to cash in, Chinese automotive giants BYD or Geely could buy Racing Bulls to secure their entry to Formula 1 instead of starting as the 12th team. Neither BYD nor Geely is believed to be planning on building an F1 engine at the start of any potential entry, either, which could support the proposal to sell Racing Bulls.
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