Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey is hopeful key parts of the new 2021 Concorde Agreement can be confirmed by this summer.
Frustration has been growing with the sport’s bosses and teams locked in negotiations for well over a year now to come up with a new agreement between all the major stakeholders.
The reason why? Liberty Media is wanting to overhaul both the sporting and commercial structure of F1 with financial measures such as a budget cap and greater equality in revenue distribution, something manufacturers have been reluctant to agree to.
“We understand public markets would like to have all the terms as soon as possible, but we’re going to take the time necessary and make sure we get this right in alignment with our partners,” Carey explained at a conference quoted by F1i.com.
“We want to resolve these things, they are for 2021 so clearly there is still time there, but I think all of us would like to have clear visibility to the future so we are looking to conclude those as quickly as we can.”
While progress has seemed to be numbingly slow in recent months, the F1 chief insists steps forward are being taken.
“I’m not going to elaborate on specific deadlines for discussions with teams,” he continued. “[But] I had a number of meetings this week with teams, so they’re quite active.
“It is true that certainly there are components of it that we would look to have in place by June, though we certainly expect to advance things before then.”
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A potential stumbling block facing F1 in 2019 is Brexit, with seven of the 10 team primarily based in the UK and the prospect of a messy divorce from the European Union.
While Carey believes commercially the sport will be unaffected, he admits operationally there are some concerns.
“We’ve got some logistical issues – which are more sort of if you end up with a no-deal Brexit, how do you get in and out of Britain with various equipment?” he noted.
“Those that probably feel it the most are ones that are more commoditised, and we’re not. I think it also helps that we’re largely a contract business.”
What has also gone largely unnoticed this week is news that F1 made a $68m loss in 2018 despite seeing a strong rise in revenues.
Carey would largely brush it off, however, believing the future is looking bright.
“We do expect growth across our primary areas,” he said.
“In the sponsorship area we expect ongoing, solid growth, we’ve got a lot of interest and the race calendar is pretty stable, so the growth will be more modest there.”
