McLaren's Zak Brown believes 2018 could be a tumultuous year on Formula 1's political front as the sport's managers tackle a series of crucial but thorny issues with the teams.
A year into its ownership of Grand Prix racing, and as it continues to settle in, Liberty Media has received criticism from within the F1 community for its lack of transparency regarding the future and the slow pace of change of the sport's state of affairs.
As he sees the glass half full rather than half empty, Zak Brown advocates patience although he admits the honey moon is over between Liberty and the teams.
"Some senior team executives have been openly critical of Liberty. I prefer we’re constructive," Brown told James Allen on the F1 reporter's guest blog.
"They’ve only really had their feet under the desk for the last six to 12 months having inherited a sport previously operated pretty uniquely.
"They’ve had to put infrastructure in place, learn the environment and prioritise where to invest – all at the same time," adds Brown.
"I know from my McLaren experience, I’m on top of things now, but it takes you a year minimum to get on top of things and it’s the same for them.
"F1 is a fast-moving, impatient and unforgiving sport but the teams can’t rely solely on Liberty and F1 to solve all the problems.
"Yes, there are several challenges but the key is turn these into opportunities."
As Liberty enters the thick of things with regard to defining F1's future regulations and the all-important engine platform from 2021 - a draft proposal of which was met with doubt by several teams and an outright quit threat from Ferrari - Brown is predicting a fair amount of turmoil when discussions likely come to a head later this year.
"There will be some big negotiations going on through 2018 with the teams on contract renewal and I predict that there will be public fireworks; we are already starting to see that," says the McLaren boss.
"I do not think it’s going to be quiet. Will Ferrari really leave if they don’t like the new rules?
"I have my opinion but we’ll see how this plays out."
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