F1 champion shares 'dangerous' concern over 'monopoly' issue

Nigel Mansell has warned that multi-team ownership in F1 represents a "dangerous route to go down" for the series, cautioning that such arrangements risk creating a monopoly in the paddock.

The 1992 F1 drivers' champion intervention comes amid intensifying debate over team co-ownership structures, sparked by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown's recent criticism of existing arrangements and concerns over Mercedes' reported interest in acquiring a minority stake in Alpine.

"I'm not quite sure about multi-team ownership. It's a dangerous route to go down," Mansell said to Aceodds.com. "To be associated or own more than what you need to own, monopoly comes into it."

Mansell's concerns centre on the shifting landscape of Formula 1 ownership, lamenting the decline of independent team ownership by passionate individuals.

"I think this is probably the most dynamic question you can ask at this time because if we go back, obviously, over the years, you have incredible entrepreneurs and individuals who owned teams. I'll never forget the late Colin Chapman, who was a fantastic innovator, designer and engineer," he said.

The Briton identified the financial barriers preventing a return to that era. "Now, it's crystallised in the fact that unless you've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds to spend, you can't compete. It's a bit of a closed shop. You certainly don't have the individuals, and if you do, there's only a few of them. What you have now is multinational companies."

Mansell argued that multi-team ownership creates inherent competitive advantages. "How do you compete with them? And then when they maybe have second-tier teams, or they're involved there as well, that's got to be an advantage," he said.

The former Williams driver expressed a preference for a larger, fully independent grid. "It'd be lovely to have 13 teams again, 26 cars, all independent from one another, unless you're renting the engine or doing something like that."

Brown, meanwhile, has been particularly vocal on the issue, stating that co-ownership "runs a real high risk of compromising the integrity of sporting fairness."

He cited Red Bull's movement of staff members from Racing Bulls to Red Bull without delay or financial compensation, contrasting this with McLaren having to pay substantial fees that count against their cost cap when recruiting personnel.

Brown has called for Formula 1 to eliminate A/B team structures "as much as possible, as quickly as possible."

Do you think multi-team ownership could be allowed in F1? Let us know by voting below in the latest poll by RacingNews365!