Racing Bulls Boss Defends Red Bull Relationship Amid FIA Scrutiny Calls

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has publicly defended his team’s relationship with Red Bull, pushing back against calls for FIA intervention.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been vocal for several years about what he describes as an ‘unhealthy’ setup between Red Bull and their sister team Racing Bulls.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem earlier this month defended multi-team ownership but indicated the governing body would look further into the matter.
Ben Sulayem suggested that multi-team ownership could be acceptable if done for the ‘right reasons’, stopping short of any immediate action against Red Bull.
Red Bull joined Formula 1 in 2005 and acquired a sister team relatively quickly, with the Faenza-based outfit rebranding as Toro Rosso from the 2006 season onwards.
That team has since carried the names AlphaTauri and VCARB before settling on the Racing Bulls name ahead of the 2025 season.
The junior team has historically served as a development pathway for young drivers, with Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar all passing through it.
Permane, who joined Racing Bulls as team principal in 2025 after previously working at Alpine/Renault, addressed the relationship directly with media in Canada.
“Our relationship with Red Bull Racing is very much a customer-supplier relationship,” said Permane. “We take some suspension from them, we take gearboxes from them, and various other components that are allowed under the technical regulations, which we follow very rigorously.”
Permane acknowledged that maintaining compliance with the regulations requires significant resource and effort from the team.
“Actually, I have to say, having worked at a team where we don’t have that relationship at all, and now with a team where we do have it, a lot of work goes into ensuring that we are respecting those rules,” Permane added.
He explained that resources which could otherwise be directed elsewhere are instead spent on ensuring regulatory compliance within the partnership structure.
“So, a lot of effort that could be put into other areas is put into ensuring that we respect those regulations. So, I don’t see any issue with the way we operate currently,” Permane said.
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