© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison says F1 teams cannot “have a technical or a sporting relationship”, so if Red Bull and AlphaTauri either one, “that is something that would cause unhappiness”.
There has been a lot of talk about the relationship between Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri F1 teams, as the company Red Bull owns both of them.
Red Bull has recently overhauled AlphaTauri’s infrastructure, and the soon-to-be-renamed team is set to take on an increased number of parts from its ‘sister’ team Red Bull Racing.
This news prompted McLaren CEO Zak Brown to say that this type of relationship between teams should be completely banned from Formula 1, because they can benefit from each other’s know-how and technology.
When asked about this, Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison said the rules are very clear on this issue.
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“I’m not entirely sure what the nature of the relationships between those two teams is, but I am clear on what the rules are,” the Briton said.
“And it is that other than the very limited part of the car where you are permitted to supply parts, and therefore a certain amount of technical data alongside those parts.
“In every other respect the rules are very tight about not passing on anything that could be regarded as intellectual property from one team to another.
“The way that rule is written is very broad and very powerful, and it pretty much makes any communication not permitted.
“If two teams have a strong relationship with each other, it can only really be a strong commercial relationship.
“It cannot be a strong technical or a strong sporting relationship because the rules forbid that.
“In the past it was more open, and the relationship that Mercedes enjoyed with the team that is now Aston Martin, at the time, that was a relationship that permitted much greater freedom than it does today.
“In response to that relationship, the rules were tightened up substantially to mean that you cannot really have a technical or a sporting relationship. If it turns out that there is one, that is something that would cause unhappiness.
“So, there is not much mileage to seek a close relationship with another team from a technical point of view because it is not allowed,” Allison concluded.
