System 1 and its 11 2026 groups agreeing business phrases for a brand new five-year Concorde Settlement is welcome information because the collection is nearing the top of the present deal, and is making ready for Cadillac’s arrival.
Motorsport.com understands the US producer has agreed to pay a $450m anti-dilution charge to be allowed in as an eleventh enlargement staff, having lately cleared the ultimate hurdles to safe a spot on the grid. Cadillac will in any other case be handled the identical as each different staff and can compete for prize cash from yr one.
That cash will probably be cut up equally between the ten current groups to make up for prize cash they’ll now should share with an additional get together. And whereas some groups would have favored to see Cadillac pay a a lot increased charge, as F1 staff values have skyrocketed lately, the brand new determine is a compromise that can also be bearing in mind Cadillac proprietor GM including worth via promoting, trackside branding, hospitality and bringing its personal companions to the collection as F1 proprietor Liberty Media goals to develop within the US.
As a part of the agreements, which is able to run from 2026 till and together with the 2030 season, Ferrari retains its historic fee bonus albeit in capped type. In the meantime, the F1 value cap has been raised from $135m to $220m because it now contains varied new parts that had been beforehand excluded.
Has F1 known as the FIA’s bluff?
Whereas the business a part of the Concorde Settlement has been signed, sealed and delivered between FOM and the groups, the second a part of the deal concerning the governance of the collection – which additionally includes the FIA – has not been forthcoming. The 2 paperwork are normally signed and introduced collectively, and in a unexpectedly issued FIA assertion on Sunday morning the governing physique stated “the governance side of the 2026 Concorde Settlement between FIA and FOM is nearing completion”.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Staff, Stefano Domenicali, CEO, System One Group
Picture by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures
Nevertheless, opposite to the FIA’s assertion Motorsport.com understands a governance deal is definitely nonetheless far-off, with little progress having been made in latest weeks and months. Sources counsel FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has been intentionally stalling progress in a political act of brinkmanship that may power F1 into making concessions to the FIA to get a deal over the road.
It’s not clear if the FIA merely assumed groups wouldn’t conform to announce a business deal with out having the governance half sorted out, which particulars the FIA’s position and contains parts like superlicence charges, if Ben Sulayem needed to be seen as having the final phrase. Nevertheless it does seem as if the FIA was caught utterly unexpectedly by Sunday’s F1 announcement in Melbourne, and that F1 has known as the FIA’s bluff.
Ben Sulayem will not be in Melbourne and isn’t planning to attend the opening leg of races as a result of Ramadan, together with his first F1 look anticipated to be the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, so it isn’t clear how fast that course of will probably be.
What might be a major ingredient within the newest energy play between FOM and the FIA is the recent, five-year contract for F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali that was introduced earlier this week, with it now clear the Italian goes nowhere and can proceed to be the primary participant the FIA should align with.
Domenicali’s new settlement was backed by the groups, who hailed him for the position he has performed in rising F1. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff stated Domenicali’s “monitor file speaks for itself”, whereas his McLaren counterpart Zak Brown additionally backed Domenicali’s longer tenure.
The FIA has been approached for additional remark.
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