FIA President tries to push for World Championship expansion
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The President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Mohammed bin Sulayem, entered into a controversy with the Formula 1 teams. Mr bin Sulayem told Reuters he envisioned the World Cup consisting of 12 teams, up from the current 10. The FIA chief’s remarks came days after the FIA’s decision to allow an eleventh stable to take part in the championship and the subsequent backlash from teams that the new entrants were not needed. At the same time, they believe that the current cost of admission to the series, which is $200 million, should be increased fivefold. In this case, we can forget about expanding the championship for a long time.
The President of the International Automobile Federation Mohammed bin Sulayem expressed his position regarding increasing the number of participants in the Formula 1 World Championship. This happened a few days after the FIA approved the application of the Andretti team (the American “stable” intends to join the series with the support of the auto giant General Motors and promote the latter’s Cadillac brand) to join the world championship.
“Saying no to Andretti would mean breaking the rules of the FIA itself,” said the head of the FIA and added that the applicant for a place in Formula 1 had fulfilled all the conditions for joining the championship. According to Mr. bin Sulayem, Andretti (the team is led by Michael Andretti, who had unsuccessful racing experience in Formula 1, the son of the famous Mario Andretti, the 1978 Formula 1 world champion) answered all the questions raised, including those related to financing .
Mohammed bin Sulayem also recalled that the current rules of Formula 1 allow 12 teams to participate in the championship, but now only 10 compete in it. In addition, the FIA President outlined his strategic goal. The first step is to have an American factory team and an American driver in Formula 1. On the second, the FIA is waiting for a Chinese factory team and a Chinese driver to appear in the series. Let us note that there are already Chinese and American pilots in Formula 1. Thus, Zhou Guanyu drives for Alfa Romeo, and Logan Sargent races for Williams. All that remains is to attract manufacturers from the relevant countries.
The FIA President’s “strategic” statements apparently did not come out of nowhere. Probably, they are intended to help resolve the contradictions that arose in the “formula world” after the FIA agreed to add another team to the championship. In general, claims to the FIA decision were made public by Red Bull team consultant Helmut Marko. According to his statement to the F1-Insider publication, the emergence of the eleventh team leads to the fact that each of the existing ones will be forced to agree to reduce its share of the prize money pie. Plus, there are also purely technical issues. Mr. Marco noted that, for example, at the Monaco Grand Prix there is simply no place to place another team in the paddock (in Monaco, the “stables” are really in cramped circumstances and are forced to store a significant part of the equipment in the open air).
As follows from Helmut Marko’s statement, the key argument of the teams objecting to another “stable” joining the championship is the financial issue. Under the Concorde Agreement (a tripartite agreement between the FIA, the teams and the series’ commercial rights owner Liberty Media), the current version of which runs until the end of the championship in 2025, the teams receive about half of all revenue generated by Formula 1. Last season, almost $1.3 billion was distributed between them (the winner of the Constructors’ Championship received 14% of this amount; the team that took last place received 6%). The appearance of another team will automatically reduce prize payments to other teams.
The Agreement of Agreement fixes the cost of the entry fee for applicants for a place in Formula 1 – $200 million (a significant part of this money is received by the current teams of the series). And this money, as planned, should serve as some kind of compensation to the existing teams. But, according to BBC information from the teams, their leaders believe that new teams in the series are not needed at all. For example, Williams boss James Vowles explicitly stated that he was categorically against adding an eleventh team, since it would affect the income of the company he heads. And in general, according to BBC sources, team managers made it clear to the FIA that the amount of compensation specified in the Agreement was outdated. They believe that given the growing popularity of Formula 1 in recent years, the entry fee should be at least $1 billion.
By and large, $1 billion is a barrier that will not be easy for even such a giant as General Motors to meet. Obviously, Liberty Media would also like to receive more money from newcomers. Its representatives have also not yet expressed enthusiasm regarding the FIA’s decision to allow another team into the Formula 1 championship. At the same time, the FIA actually has no leverage over either the teams or Liberty Media. The current agreements stipulate that any changes to the championship (with the exception of aspects relating to the safety of racing) can only be implemented with the approval of the teams and Liderty Media. So Andretti still has a long way to go before getting into Formula 1.
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