The FIA boss says motorsport’s governing body has no interest in an early contract extension with Liberty Media and the ten Formula 1 teams, which have expressed their desire to sweeten the deal while the series enjoys worldwide popularity.
The eighth and current Concorde agreement – which sets out the rules and regulations for Formula 1 and the distribution of television revenue and prize money – began in 2021 and will run through the 2025 season. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts in May, the CEO of Liberty Media, which owns the commercial rights to F1, expressed a desire for a new deal much sooner.
“The teams, the FIA and we all agree that now could be a good time to try to renew and extend the Concorde Agreement while the heat is still on,” CEO Greg Maffei said on the conference call. “I hope we have a more positive relationship and everyone sees the benefit of starting early and giving reassurance to everyone involved.”
But in a lengthy interview with The Associated Press, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said he saw no reason to renegotiate now.
“The Concorde is something that we have to deal with, but it has to fit all sides. You have the stakeholders, you have the partners, you have the FIA, you have Liberty Media and you have the 10 teams, and beyond that we have 18 months,” Ben Sulayem told AP this week. “So our house isn’t on fire. We need to talk to each other and achieve what is best for all of us.”
Ben Sulayem also warned against any maneuvers that could potentially weaken the FIA’s leadership in Formula 1.
“If you want a strong FIA, we have to work together and strengthen the FIA, because the FIA is the regulator, it’s the owner of the championships. They are the judges,” he told AP. “If you go to the United States, for example, you can talk to the big OEMs and the reason for that is because it’s an FIA championship. If it’s not an FIA championship, it’s going to end up like the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) with no regulator, no governing body. You need a governing body.
“Do you really think these multinationals are going to waste their money on something they don’t trust?” he asked. “We have the time, we will not rush it because we have 18 months. We want a better overall agreement for the FIA, for Liberty and for the teams. We’re on the right track, but it’s a marathon.”
Ben Sulayem, a former rally racer, has been elected to his four-year term as president less than a week after the controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi. That race ended with an unprecedented change of procedure after a late warning that allowed Max Verstappen to win his first world championship in a race dominated by Lewis Hamilton, who was striving for an eighth record title. Ben Sulayem succeeded Jean Todt and is the first Arab President of the FIA.
Among the topics he discussed with AP was the firestorm he had inherited. As well as having to lead investigations into the Abu Dhabi race, he said he was caught off guard when he learned the FIA and Formula 1 were embroiled in a patent dispute over the use of the Halo device that Driver cockpit protects.
“I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know anything about some financial data. I honestly didn’t know anything,” he said.
Ben Sulayem immediately got to work. But there were bumps – Last season there was a silly argument with Hamilton over the star driver’s desire to wear jewelry to races – and earlier this season there seemed to be a target on Ben Sulayem throughout the paddock after that he publicly warned on Twitter against an overestimation of the financial value of Formula 1.
His tweets led to lawyers for Formula 1 and Liberty Media sending a warning letter to the FIA World Motor Sport Council that the President had “unacceptably violated our (commercial) rights”.
Ben Sulayem too expressed his support for joining Formula 1 by Andretti Global, most F1 teams are reluctant to expand. He marveled at his acceptance as FIA president to AP and shared a cautionary tale told to him by former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
“Bernie Ecclestone said it was amazing how the president, it was like throwing a ball to the Italians and the French and back to the British,” said Ben Sulayem, an Emirati. “And that’s the Presidency, it wasn’t allowed to leave that particular area. And you come with my background and skin color, it took me 12 consecutive years to get here.”
He was outraged by the mysterious politics of Formula 1 and said: “Anyone from top management could have picked up the phone. I am available. Has anyone done this? No. They went on the attack,” he told the AP.
“I like dignity and respect and values must be in every business. I think it was all just unnecessarily counterproductive,” he said. “Did it all do anything? Has it changed anything? No. I’ll tell you what I’ve become: stronger.”
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