F1 has confirmed a desire to draw up a new Concorde Agreement with the FIA and 10 teams, believing it has to “strike while the iron is hot”.
The agreement is a tri-partite pact that dictates the commercial arrangement between the three parties, and is crucial for the overall financial health for all involved.
The current agreement is not due to expire until the end of 2025 but given the boom in F1 at present in all areas, parent company Liberty Media sense an opportunity to get a new deal done sooner rather than later.
Confirming the move in an investor call following the announcement of its first quarter results for this year, Liberty Media CEO and president Greg Maffei said: “Look, we have several years left to run on the Concorde Agreement.
“But I think there’s a consensus among the teams, the FIA, and ourselves that now might be a good time to try and strike while the iron is hot and renew and extend the Concorde Agreement.
“There’s certainly no obligation to do that, and there’s certainly no risk if that doesn’t get done.
“As you may recall, we went right to the end (with the last Agreement before the current one was signed).
“And historically, in many cases, the teams have operated without a Concorde Agreement They basically did a handshake and then completed the deal post the period when the Concorde Agreement was supposed to start.
“Our hope is that this time we’ll be able to change that dynamic, in part, because of the way that Chase (Carey, former F1 CEO) and Stefano (Domenicali, current F1 president and CEO) have changed the dynamic with the teams, in particular.
“I hope we have a more positive relationship and everybody sees the benefit of going early and providing certainty for all involved.”
Domenicali added: “You have summarised perfectly the situation, and that will be our strategy now.”
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