Motorsport

Within the Formula 1 series, Dan acted for Alex Albon back in 2018, where he was soon promoted from racing in Formula 2 to the pinnacle of the sport, by signing with the F1 team Toro Rosso for the 2019 season before getting promoted to the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Team.  Dan acted again in 2021 when he signed for Williams for the 2022 season.

Throughout 2020 to 2023, Dan was involved in numerous Formula 1 matters, advising drivers, teams and sponsors on a whole range of issues. Clients have included Liam Lawson, a highly talented Red Bull junior driver who in the 2023 F1 season made his race debut for the Alpha Tauri team and Liam Browning who signed with the Williams F1 Driver Academy.

As well as acting for individual race drivers, Dan has led on contractual negotiations for Sponsors of a Formula 1 team, and has acted for investors seeking to acquire a foothold in the high profile sport.

Dan’s knowledge of Formula 1 is deep-rooted, as he was a key part of the legal team that acted for Lotus Racing in the 2010 Formula 1 season, Team Lotus in 2011 and then Caterham F1 during the 2012 to 2014 seasons. Involved in a new entrant to Formula 1 gave Dan incredible experience of the unique pressures and finances involved in the sport, and he acted in a vast array of matters ranging from driver contracts, recruitment and exit of senior team members, sponsorship agreements and substantial intellectual property disputes and negotiations. 

As a result of his Caterham experience, Dan has been retained by a number of parties over the last five years who are considering entry into the elite Formula 1 paddock.

Whilst Dan has achieved incredible results within the Formula 1 series, he and his team have also been heavily involved with matters relating to F2, F3 and F4.

Dan is the lead lawyer for Hitech GP, who compete in FIA F2, FIA F3, British F3, British F4 and Asian F3 amongst other series and who in 2023 applied to join FIA F1.

Dan acted for Luciano Bacheta during the height of his racing career – he won the FIA F2 world championship in 2012 and then tested in Formula 1 for Williams.  Other clients included Seb Morris (who rose from Ginetta Junior level to British F4 to GP3 level, now known as FIA F3, before moving to sportscars where he would become British GT champion in 2017 and a works driver for Bentley).

Dan acted for Norman Nato and his management team during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, whilst he competed in GP2 (now FIA F2) which was the beginning of regular instructions from F2 drivers (or those that manage them), who find themselves in an uniquely complex position just one step away from the elite F1 paddock. Most recently, in 2024, Dan has acted for championship contender Paul Aron. 

In December 2020, Dan appeared before the Motorsport UK National Court at Silverstone successfully appealing a sanction imposed against the then British F3 driver, Louis Foster. You can read our full article on this here. Dan was also successful before the National Court representing Seb Morris and Hillspeed Racing, and has helped many individual drivers and also teams  who appear before the Motorsport UK National Court on a number of occasions.

Further, Dan and his team are well equipped to deal with contentious matters that spill over in to the civil courts: in the Summer of 2021, he and Chris Goodwin (a Solicitor in our Litigation and Disputes Team) successfully brought a claim for Hitech GP, against their former racing driver Enaam Ahmed. The High Court ruled in favour of Hitech GP, finding that Ahmed and his management company were liable to pay Hitech GP sums totalling in excess of £450,000. You can read the full Judgment here.

Current clients of the LP Sports team include, in single-seater racing, a number of FIA F2, FIA F3, and British F3 (GB3) and F4 teams and drivers and in sports cars, teams ranging from Ginetta Junior through to FIA WEC. Dan is also retained by families whose child is attracting the interest of an F1 Academy and is experienced in providing the family with independent legal and commercial advice in this very complex sector.

Dan has acted for drivers or teams in Indy Car (including for the British drivers Callum Ilott, Ed Jones, and Louis Foster, Lindsay Brewer, and the Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay), DTM, FIA WEC (including the team Algarve Pro Racing), European Le Mans Series (including the driver Manuel Maldonado), rallying (including the leading British rally driver Chris Ingram), rallycross and international and domestic karting (including one of the world’s leading karting teams and a current European champion karter).  

In 2023, Dan successfully advised a suspended professional racing driver in respect of his application to the Motorsport UK National Court to terminate the suspension of his competition licence, allowing him to return to racing in what was believed to be one of the first applications of this nature. 

Dan has particular expertise drafting and preparing various types of driver and sponsorship agreements, tailored to his client’s specific needs, and has also been retained to advise a series promoter (the British Endurance Championship). 

Dan has acted for a number of driver management companies or driver managers, assisting them with their commercial and legal relationships with drivers, sponsors and teams and also acts for senior team personnel as they seek advice and representation on joining or leaving a new team.  In 2024, Dan represented Oli Oakes as he was appointed as Team Principal of Alpine F1 - see the full story here.

Dan’s team carried out sponsorship and commercial work for McLaren GT.

The team are well versed in acting on litigation matters in respect of unpaid sponsorship monies or disputes and are regularly instructed by teams and drivers at all levels of the sport.

Dan and his team’s experience allows them to offer a fully comprehensive service to their motorsport clients, which include:

• Driver agency / management;
• Appeals against sanctions;
• Contractual disputes between Teams and Drivers;
• Contractual disputes between Teams or Drivers and sponsors;
• Commercial agreements;
• Driver / Team contracts;
• Image rights advice;
• Representation at Motorsport UK National Court and / or at FIA;
• Regulatory matters and disputes;
• Sponsorship / Licensing / Merchandising agreements;
• Advice on work permit, visa and immigration issues for Drivers and Team personnel;
• Advice on establishment of new teams and entrant licences;
• Advice on health and safety matters and risk management;
• Advice on media matters (offline and online) and defamation; and
• Advice to young drivers and their families on F1 Academy (and other academy) offers and contractual documentation/negotiations.