Ferrari and Haas have praised Formula 1’s new Concorde Agreement, with the latter admitting it has allowed them to continue on the grid
Earlier this week, F1 announced that, despite some late opposition from Mercedes, all 10 teams had agreed to the new commercial deal which binds them, Liberty Media and the FIA to the financial and sporting terms for the next five years.
The main aim with this Concorde has been to address the financial inequality between the top teams and smaller outfits through fairer revenue distribution and a new budget cap coming into effect for 2021.
Historically, such changes would have infuriated Ferrari, who gained the most from bonus payments, but team boss Mattia Binotto is satisfied with what was agreed.
“We at least got what was essential for us. Which was to still keep what’s the importance of the condition of our brand for the importance of the F1,” he told Sky Sports in an interview.
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“We have maintained what we call the protection right, or the veto right, which is important for Ferrari because what Ferrari represent for the entire F1 and the history. So overall, yes, satisfied.
“You can always get more, you can get less, but what has been achieved is an important result.”
More broadly, Binotto believes the future direction laid out by Liberty Media is the right one.
“All the 10 teams have signed which is very positive showing that we are all willing really to look positively at the future of F1,” the Ferrari boss added.
“Now I think we’ve got the right basis it’s really a matter of making F1 even more spectacular, stronger, and we need to do it all together.
“Maybe at the very start still we may see discrepancies, but I think that looking on the next seasons certainly there will be a convergence,” Binotto added on the hope of seeing more teams fight at the front.
“Economical budgets are [being] reduced compared to today. The cars are simpler, so we will come to a convergence and, yes, it may have more battles, more teams winning [as a result].”
At the other end of the grid, Haas was one of the teams openly admitting their future in F1 was uncertain after 2020 if results didn’t improve and the costs of competing were not made more manageable.
But for team boss Guenther Steiner, the new Concorde has made the outlook much brighter for the smaller teams on the grid.
“It’s a proper commitment,” he told Racer. “You cannot just keep on going, thinking ‘maybe, maybe not’.
“Okay, we are struggling at the moment but we know why. We just need to build it up.
“Next year might be difficult as well, but what FOM has done is very good,” Steiner admitted. “At least there is value in the team.
“The prize money is also more fairly distributed than before, so you have a chance – if you do a good job – to almost call it a business!
“The first thing in a business is you don’t lose money, then you make money. That’s how it should be for everybody. That’s what Gene sees, so I think this is a big step.
“Without all of these changes, I don’t think we would have been here for the future. It’s so difficult – the playing field was so different for the big teams compared to the small ones.
“But now with these new regulations, the budget cap, the redistribution of the prize money… if somebody wants to enter new (paying a) fee, then you get some value out of it.”