Bosses of few F1 teams agree that the signing of the new ‘Concord Agreement’ which will initiate from the 2021 season should be imminent as the delay makes the situation tight.
Ever since Liberty Media took over F1 from CVC and Berine Ecclestone, the talk about the new ‘Concord Agreement’ has been in discussion with various matters especially the sporting, technical and financial aspect at prime focus.
Since last year there has been back and forth deliberations with several meetings as well regarding the new deal which is yet to be firmed up with only two more years remaining on the current deal.
Few of the teams have raised concerns for the delay which could make it even tighter for the teams to have enough time to prepare for the changes to come. “I think we’re running out of time,” said Racing Point Force India’s Otmar Szafnauer.
“The sooner, the better, and the later we leave it, the higher the cost to react to whatever changes or differences there are going to be. Hopefully by the end of this year we’ll have some clarity on regulations, governance and financial distribution.”
Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner agreed: “We’ve got to find a deal, we’ve got to find a solution. There’s 24 months. There’s a hard stop, which is at the end of 2020 and there’s only the simple factors of money, regulations and commercial plans for the future to sort out. So what could possibly hold that up.”
Ferrari’s Maurizio Arrivabene added: “The time, it’s quite tight, you know better than me. So we need to move quickly – but in the meantime we need to avoid any move that could damage our company.
“I’m talking about Ferrari as I think my colleagues, they are talking about the company that they are representing. So, the time is quite tight – but we don’t have any hurry to move forward and maybe to create a mess.
“Talking about something that is in front of us now. We have regulation for next year, they were supposed to give more possibility to the overtaking, at the moment the first feedback that I got from our driver is that most probably that objective is not achieved.
“The result is that we are spending a huge amount of money next year to change our car, then we need also to sit together and to understand how could be the situation for the engine cost for 2021 and maybe thinking about that – because we are continuously talking about cost cap.
“But at the moment, I’m going to see the costs, that they are increasing instead of decreasing. So, we need to stop a bit and, instead of rushing, we need to think on what we are doing now, because what we are doing now, it could potentially influence future decisions.”
Renault F1 Team’s Cyril Abiteboul agreed as well but added that the time taken will be helping the FOM to take the best possible decision which could help all the teams to compete at a certain level for the next decade.
“I think it’s fair to say that it’s tight,” he said. “That’s why it’s important that we stay steady and try to be supportive of what FOM’s new management is trying to achieve – because we need visibility.
“I mean, when you talk to sponsors, new sponsors not in Formula One, they want to have visibility. They need to have at least three years visibility and we can’t offer three years any more.
“Because it’s only two years that’s left on the current Concord – so clearly we are really pushing but also helping stakeholders to try to come up with a clear plan, if or what, on each of those aspects which are important aspects.”