Bosses at both Red Bull and McLaren are pushing Formula 1 owners Liberty Media to continue with a bold vision for the future despite opposite pressure from manufacturers.
2018 is set to see a showdown between CEO Chase Carey and Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne with the latter threatening to take the sport’s most historic team off the grid after 2020 should it not agree with the direction F1 takes.
Mercedes issued a similar warning with the two closely aligned politically while also being bitter rivals on the track but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has played it down as bluster and calls on Liberty to call their bluff.
“They are going to have to come up with a set of rules and say ‘that’s what Formula 1 is, sign up or not’,” the Briton told Racer.
McLaren executive director Zak Brown echoed that sentiment believing Liberty to put the interests of the sport over those who have wielded power behind the scenes.
“They need to be prepared to recognise that they are not going to make everyone happy,” he said.
“Their centring needs to be on what is best for the sport. I would rather lose one [team], replace them and have 10 teams than have one or two teams fighting in the championship.”
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The catalyst for Ferrari and Mercedes to take their positions was a proposal to alter the engine rules for 2021 but both Horner and Brown welcomed the ideas insisting it was time F1 looked to attract new manufacturers back.
“They (Liberty) are trying to be responsible for ensuring cost, performance, noise — it ticks all the boxes that an engine should do in F1,” the Red Bull boss added. “We’re already seeing interest from manufacturers like Aston Martin if it’s affordable and reasonable value.”
