Bernie Ecclestone has insisted that the entire grid of 11 teams are financially stable, and the sport won’t be losing them because of budgetary problems.
His comments put an end to recent speculation that further outfits could fall – much like Spain’s HRT did at the end of 2012 – with Marussia the prime candidate to follow due to mounting debts.
The 82-year-old met with all the teams to finalise details for the new Concorde Agreement, which has been under negotiation for over a year now, and says the meeting was constructive.
“On Thursday I was bringing the teams up to speed with the new Concorde Agreement,” Autoweek quote him as saying. “They are all safe.”
Whilst early indications suggested the new contract would benefit only a select few teams, Ecclestone revealed that all outfits, including the Russian owned Marussia, will benefit.
“We have got a deal with them all, including Marussia,” he added. “We are continuing with Marussia. I thought they were going to go but they are not.”
The new deal reportedly hands over 63 per cent of the television income rights to the teams, up from just under 50 per cent under the old agreement.
That will equate to a prize pot of around £550 million, to be divided between the 11 teams dependent on their finishing position in the Constructors’ Championship.
Further to that, an additional clause (Constructors’ Championship Bonus) has been added which awards 7.5 per cent of the revenue – roughly £70 million – between the teams which have won the most races since the 2008 season.
