Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey believes the recent criticism from race promoters aimed at Liberty Media’s leadership only came from a small number within their group.
Last week, the chairman of FOPA, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle, released a statement airing unhappiness towards the sport’s move from free-to-air TV to pay channels, uncertainty over the future direction of F1 and questioned whether traditional races were being dropped in favour of new events which pay higher fees.
Organisers of the Russian and Mexican Grand Prix’s quickly distanced themselves from the comments and after meeting last week, Carey largely brushed off the whole situation.
“I think, realistically, if you get 21 in a room you are bound to find a couple who have something to complain about,” he told ESPN.
“In all honesty, I thought the meeting [with race promoters] was incredibly positive. I thought there was tremendous support from the vast majority and they have a great appreciation for what we are doing.
“The fact that a few of them wanted to find something to complain about, that’s life. It’s not going to change what we are doing, and by a large majority the promoters have been supportive and are excited about what we are doing.”
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The F1 CEO was also perplexed when he directly mentioned the issues brought up in the FOPA statement, only to meet no resistance from the room.
“I addressed all three [concerns] but realistically no-one brought any of them up — they just put it out in a press release, which was a little strange,” Carey said.
“We already had a day set up to talk about initiatives and they — well, only a couple of guys — put out a press release saying we need to talk about initiatives. That was the strangest part.”