FIA president Max Mosley says the future of Formula One will be secured after 2008 because F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has offered teams a R6-billion incentive to stay in the sport.
FIA president Max Mosley says the future of Formula One will be secured after 2008 because F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has offered teams a R6-billion incentive to stay in the sport.
The development could be a decisive blow to the Grand Prix World Championship group (Renault, McLaren and Williams), which has threatened to start a new series if Ecclestone does not meet its commercial demands. But Mosley is convinced a rival championship will not now go ahead, claiming the cash needed to just match Ecclestone’s offer makes a new series economically impossible.
The Englishman revealed a package worth up to R6-billion is on offer for teams to sign up to Formula One from 2008 onwards. “I think Formula One has never been in better shape in the years I have been here,” said Mosley, despite only world champions Ferrari having committed themselves to a new agreement with Ecclestone, who holds the sport’s commercial rights.
“In 2008 the teams are effectively going to get 50 per cent of the entire income of Bernie’s companies. That is 50 per cent of gross income, and all the outgoings he has to pay out of his 50 per cent,” added Mosley. “That is a substantial income and in addition from 2008 there will be backdated payments for the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, which will be spread over the five years of the new agreement.”
“The increase from 2008 is enormous – if they sign up. It’s somewhere between 500 million dollars and a billion to be shared out between the teams, it’s in that order.
“I don’t think there will ever be two championships,” he said. “The reality is that sooner or later it will be sorted out. The difference between Bernie and the GPWC is that Bernie has contracts with promoters, with television companies and with Ferrari, which go beyond 2008.
“The GPWC have no contracts and their position is very weak because promoters are going to play them off against each other. The brand of the F1 World Championship has become significant. Bernie has that, he has Ferrari and the contracts.”
Ferrari received extra money by virtue of being the first team to sign up to a new deal with Ecclestone. The preferential arrangement, which also exists in the current commercial deal, has upset some rival team bosses, but Mosley insists Ferrari give good value for the extra money they receive.
“There is no doubt Ferrari, at least in the last ten years, have been worth more than the proportion they get of the money given to the teams,” he added.
With Red Bull and Midland moving into the sport with vast budgets, the future looks brighter for two of F1’s strugglers. Jaguar have already been rebranded in honour of their new owners Red Bull and Jordan will follow in deference to Midland – moves Mosley believes have safeguarded the sport’s immediate future.
“It looks healthier than I can remember because of those two people coming in,” said Mosley. “We had a big crisis in Japan, China and Brazil when two teams were on the point of going out of business and two more were in danger. The financial crisis which was threatened last autumn has disappeared,” he concluded.