Zak Brown, the Executive Director of McLaren, spoke at the FIA Press Conference on March 22, 2024. This was during the Practice Day of the Australian Grand Prix, which is part of the Formula 1 World Championship held at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.
In light of recent developments, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has emphasized the need for more “transparency.” This comes after the FIA faced a criminal complaint against them. The FIA Ethics Committee has since cleared President Mohammed Ben Sulayem of any wrongdoing. The allegations against him were made by a whistleblower who claimed that he tried to interfere with the overturning of a time penalty given to Fernando Alonso in the previous season’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The whistleblower also accused him of attempting to prevent the homologation of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Furthermore, Susie Wolff has taken legal action against the FIA in a French court. This is in response to the FIA’s investigation into an alleged conflict of interest involving Susie Wolff and her husband, Toto Wolff, who is the Mercedes team boss. The investigation took place in December and was swiftly ended within 48 hours. Despite the allegations being dropped, Susie Wolff has decided to pursue legal measures to hold those who initiated the claims accountable.
These events have unfolded against the backdrop of a female complainant issuing a complaint against Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner. Zak Brown has consistently called for transparency in resolving the Horner saga and believes that the relevant cases could have been handled more openly.
Brown expressed his concerns, stating, “All the recent revelations are extremely serious matters. We are living in the year 2024, not 1984, and we should demand complete transparency. Although the three situations are different, they are all equally serious. It is crucial that everything is handled in a transparent and truly independent manner. I believe that transparency should be welcomed by everyone.”
However, the head of Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, expressed his belief that the teams should maintain trust in the governing body of the sport because “I don’t believe we have any other choice but to have faith. We are unaware of the identity of the person who exposed this information; we are unaware of their intentions,” he added. “Do not ask us to form an opinion in the end. We must have confidence in the system.”
In another instance, CEO of RB, Peter Bayer, cautioned against making such matters public as it may discourage future whistleblowers from coming forward with claims. “The FIA is capable of handling these situations because there are elected individuals with designated roles, as well as an independent ethics committee,” he clarified. “During my time there, we established a compliance officer and whistleblowing hotlines. One thing that we have noticed is that the sport has experienced significant growth within a short period. Many people are demanding transparency.”
“I suppose we will need to determine where we can introduce transparency, especially when it concerns individual issues or complaints brought forward through a whistleblowing hotline. We must ensure that those who blow the whistle are provided with absolute guarantees and protection,” Bayer explained. “However, when it comes to employment contracts, they are not meant to be shared with anyone, regardless of their location on the planet. It is a challenging situation.”
“But as a sport, we must learn and evolve through these processes and hopefully return our focus to racing,” he concluded. “We must place our trust in the organization. This is similar to when we encounter decisions made by the stewards or other instances. Sometimes, we may not agree with the decisions, but ultimately, we must be satisfied with the process.”