Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz says he is ready to commit the company’s future to Formula 1 by signing a new Concorde Agreement.
The deal, which binds teams, the FIA and commercial rights holder Liberty Media, is the final piece of the puzzle for the new era of the sport starting in 2021.
And while the final details are still being negotiated, the Red Bull boss, who has occasionally wavered on the future of his two teams, is happy by what he’s seen.
“We haven’t signed anything yet, but it is only a matter of drafting details. I don’t expect any problems,” Mateschitz told SpeedWeek.
“Time is not running out as we have driven without a basic contract before but everything is ready for signature.”
His commitment isn’t just to Red Bull and the rebranded AlphaTauri either, with Mateschitz keen to continue the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, which he resurrected in 2014.
“A project like this is intended to be long-term,” he added.
“Last year we extended MotoGP by five years. Chase Carey is happy to be with us and wants to continue the Austrian GP. So it will not be a big problem to extend.”
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As for the Concorde Agreement, the Red Bull chiefs words will no doubt be music to the ears of the F1 CEO as he tries to get all the current teams on side.
“We’ve got agreements on the table, and we’re comfortable. We’ve put together a proposal that is fair to everybody,” Carey told Motorsport.
“We’re in discussions with the teams, I think they’re constructive. I think the sport will be better for the fans, better for the teams and better for everybody.
“We think it’s a real step in the right direction on all the fronts we’ve talked about before.
“We haven’t finished it, but we’re in a good place, and we’d like to get it done. It’s for 2021, so there obviously is time. All along we’ve tried to make it more of a partnership, understand the various issues.
“We weighed all those, put forward what we think is again a fair and balanced proposal for everybody, and we’ll do our best to get it finalised as soon as possible so we can focus on what is most important which is growing the sport.”
The big change in Liberty’s first Concorde Agreement is to try and end the financial disparity between the top teams and the rest by distributing the revenue on a much more equal basis.
But that has proven a tough sell to the likes of Mercedes, who’s F1 team largely pays for itself through revenue and bonus payments.
“I think we’ve listened to everybody; we’ve tried to be responsive to everybody,” Carey said. “At some point, this is how we’re going to race in 2021.”
“It’s not a big step, but it’s a step, there’ll always be more to do. I think there’ll be things in what we’ve done that you continue to modify as things evolve.
“I think this is an important step to put the sport in a much better place as a sport, and the health of the sport, and the sport for fans, but it will be an ongoing process.
“Clearly we’re not done. We’re not claiming that,” he concluded.
