Formula 1 teams to decide F1 future owners – Luca di Montezemolo
Ferrari’s President, Luca di Montezemolo, has recently stated that the sport’s future is going to be decided by the teams before warning that a “breakaway” series could be a possible outcome.
Since the Concorde Agreement is going to stay in effect until 2012, Montezemolo believes that after the expiration of this agreement, Formula 1 will have only 3 options, out of which, 2 of them do not involve CVC (Citicorp Venture Capital) Capital, who are
one of the binders, of the Concorde Agreement.
“I think we have to be very pragmatic. At the end of 2012, the contracts of every single team with CVC will expire. So, we have three alternatives. We renew with CVC, or we theoretically - as the basketball teams did in the U.S. with great success - we create
our own company, like the NBA”, Montezemolo told the media.
He stated that Formula 1 can also avail the commercial rights to the sport in order to run races, earn TV rights and so on. The third option on the other hand is to find a different partner.
Luca made a similar statement around the end of last year after which Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of Formula 1 Management and an active worker of CVC responded by saying that “Luca is a lovely guy but he forgets what he is saying”.
However, reports suggest that an Italian based investment company, which is believed to have close ties with Ferrari, is interested in buying the sport. Montezemolo believes that the future of the sport is in the teams’ hands now.
“Bernie Ecclestone did a very good job but he has already sold out three times, so he doesn't own the business anymore. It is CVC that will sell. It will be the teams' decisions. At the end of 2012, the contract will expire, so theoretically CVC doesn't
own anything”, he said.
He added that it is important to have alternatives as well therefore, since the teams have the time to do it, they will think about this decision thoroughly.
Other than that, the teams have made it quite clear that they are hoping to gain a greater amount of share in Formula 1’s profits when the next Concorde Agreement’s negotiation commences next year.
Keeping this aside, Montezemolo criticized the new rules and regulations that have been introduced by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) for this year. He believes that it is like pushing “footballers to wear tennis shoes in the rain”.
Luca stated that there should be more action on the track rather than in the pits. As a result of which, this is merely “imposed entertainment” as stated by most of the critics and professionals of the sport.
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