Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei anticipates there will be difficult negotiations with the teams when it comes to renewing Formula 1’s Concorde Agreement for 2026.
The upcoming Concorde Agreement, a document between the FIA, the Formula One Group and the teams, in 2026 will coincide with the all-new technical regulations.
This three-way agreement delimitates key things such as the amount of money the teams perceive from prizes and commercial rights or the limitation on the number of teams that can be on the grid, a very controversial point amid Andretti’s desire to join the grid by 2026.
This will be the second Concorde Agreement negotiated by Liberty Media, following the current deal agreed in 2020, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On a podcast with James Allen, Liberty Media Greg Maffei explained he expects tough negotiations to get the ultimate signature on the dotted line for the agreement, as the teams want to make the most of the healthy status the sport is currently experiencing in terms of audience and commercial interests from major brands.
“I credit the leadership of Chase [Carey] and the leadership of Stefano [Domenicali], they’ve definitely tried to set a tone for the teams that we’re not going to cut one-off deals,” Maffei explained.
“This is an open process. The teams are making a lot more money, [there is more] growth and sponsors, and that excitement that has created goodwill.
“The teams and we will surely arm wrestle over numbers. You know, the teams would like more money, I wouldn’t be stunned, and we might want more money, they shouldn’t be surprised. That’s going to happen.
Despite the potential discussions between the teams and the F1 Management Group, Maffei remains optimistic about the negotiations heading to the right part for all the parts involved in the agreement.
“But in general, there’s pretty good feeling and agreement, and the things are working well, and it’s in our collective interest to get something solidified.
“There have been times when they started racing, without an agreed corporate agreement, and here we are several years before [it expires], and we have confidence, we’re going to get it done well in advance.”
Another important point of the Concorde Agreement is limiting the number of races. Several drivers and team members have spoken about how a 24-race calendar is already highly demanding for team personnel, on-site journalists, and everyone working within the F1 paddock.
Maffei explained that, despite F1 constantly looking for new opportunities, mentioning Asia specifically, it is not planning to go above the current 24 races per year.
“We had a great race in China this year. I think there’s an opportunity in south-east Asia,” said.
“We have interest from places like Thailand, and we have Indonesia and South Korea, can we meet them all now? No, we’re locked. We’re not going above 24 races, that is set.
“We actually have the right to go to 25 in the Concorde Agreement, but I think there’s common agreement that 24 is where we’re at, we’re not going to go higher.
The Liberty Media CEO also admitted that it is looking for the best balance between the historical circuits and races in new venues such as the Las Vegas or Miami additions.
“So we’re trying to think about the great historical venues, how do we balance them against new races?
“These are challenges, everybody wants to have a race. That’s the good news. Who can have a race; that’s exciting for fans, that helps grow the base.
“That is a great experience that actually makes good money for the teams, and so that’s a balance to try and think about where to grow.”
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