McLaren considering sale of minority stake in F1 team

It has been revealed that McLaren is considering selling a minority stake of its team in order to be able to get through the financial burden of the COVID-19 crisis.

The crisis has hit multiple F1 teams financially, with McLaren recently confirming the loss of 1,200 jobs across the group as it looked for a way to lessen costs.

It has been noted that McLaren also recorded a loss of £133 million across it's racing and road car divisions over the first three months of 2020. 

According to Sky News, McLaren raised the idea of a minority stake sale during recent discussions with the team's lenders and advisors.

Sources have confirmed that the prospect of the sale is only at a 'conceptual stage' and was one of multiple other options that was discussed in order to benefit the team.

Last March, the team benefited from a £300 million equity boost by the owners of McLaren, a group of investors led by Mumtakalat, Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund.

Reports say that it has told lenders of the team that the current shareholders were not currently willing to inject any more equity into McLaren.

It is understood that any such transaction or sale by the team would result in a loss of ownership of McLaren between 20 to 30%, but could generate tens of millions of pounds for the team.

These funds would help towards McLaren's CEO Zak Brown's ambitions of getting the team back to the front of the grid.

One source also suggested that such a sale could allow the team to comfortably operate at the budget cap level when it is introduced into F1 next season.

The budget cap in question will start at $145 million for all teams in 2021, with a gradual drop to $135 million in the coming years.