A lawyer for British-based Team Lotus has expressed concern over the new Bribery Act which comes into force in the UK in April.
Jeremy Courtenay-Stamp believes F1 teams and their sponsors may fall foul of the new law which carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.
The new law could see sponsors cutting back on their F1 budgets due to the corporate packages they receive in return which include free tickets, entertainment packages and hotels – a major attraction for the corporations – which Courtenay-Stamp says could be seen as a ‘currency of bribery’.
“The sponsor may feel a little bit nervous about what they are doing in this area and cut back to the extent that they do not want to take people to races because it is deemed inappropriate’,” he told the Evening Standard.
“It will mean that much larger corporations will enter these kind of agreements with a lot more thought and caution, and that will affect teams with a UK sponsor base.”
This law comes at a time when F1 teams are finding harder than ever to attract sponsors due to the economic environment.
It’s thought three UK-based teams are lobbying the Justice Secretary Mr Clarke for clarification on whether taking clients to races falls under the legislation.
