Revenue payments given to the 10 Formula 1 teams dropped by $47 million in the first year under the management of Liberty Media, figures revealed.
This is the first time in history teams have had their revenue pot drop with the reason being a minor drop in total revenue and increased costs, as the American owners hired new staff, moved to a new Headquarters and spent more on promotion.
Collectively, the 10 teams received $919 million in 2017 from the total income of $1.784 billion and it has been the distribution of this money which Liberty has looked to address for the future with that figure heavily weighted towards the top teams with prize money and other payments teams like Ferrari receive as incentives to stay.
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Some team bosses, expecting the reduction in revenue, has previously criticised Liberty for the additional spending but a statement from the new owners defended the results.
"Cost of F1 revenue increased primarily due to spending on fan engagement, filming in Ultra High-Definition and higher freight costs, which more than offset reduced team payments," it read.
"Selling, general and administrative expense also increased for the fourth quarter and full year 2017 as a result of additional headcount and new corporate offices."
With Liberty already facing potential quit threats from Ferrari and others over the future direction of F1, this news could make it even harder when talks continue to agree a new Concorde Agreement in the first half of this year.
