The British have fired a broadside: the Daily Mail has come out claiming that Stefano Domenicali’s position as President and CEO of F1 is faltering. Liberty Media, according to the British newspaper, is evaluating replacements (the names of Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Zak Brown have been written) when the Imola manager still has one year left on his contract. The fault? Having hindered the Andretti Group’s entry into F1 as the eleventh team, despite the favorable opinion sanctioned by the FIA. According to well-informed Germans (Ralf Bach of F1-insider) everything would start from the antitrust investigation launched by the United States Department of Justice on the basis of some wiretaps involving Domenicali and some team principals.
There are those who stir the murky waters, thinking that the Americans at Liberty Media did not want to go on a collision course with US politics, looking for a scapegoat for an issue that is causing discussion. In reality, according to Motorsport.com, Stefano is negotiating the contract renewal that has already been proposed to him.
The FOM is in the delicate phase of discussing the renewal of the Concorde Agreement, i.e. the document that is signed by the teams and the FIA and which regulates the functioning of F1 from a political, financial and commercial point of view. The Circus Governance, in fact, is expiring and has not had the right to discuss the rules of the chassis and aerodynamics of the 2026 single-seaters, decided by the technicians of the International Federation (they have now asked for the teams’ help).
Stefano Domenicali with Greg Maffei while they sign the contract with LVMH Group together with Bernard and Frédéric Arnault
Photo credit: Liberty Media
Domenicali is the main element around which the negotiations are progressing: it would be anachronistic to entrust the most delicate phase of the renewal to a figure who does not enjoy the trust of the shareholders. And the issue of the 11th team is also part of this difficult and exhausting discussion with the parties. It cannot be ruled out that future F1 regulation rules could open up a new team, while Michael Andretti has chosen to sell the majority shares of Andretti Global, trying to mitigate the reasons for friction.
And then if we want to complete the current picture it is also right to remember that Stefano recently closed the agreement with LVMH, i.e. the French multinational controlled by Bernard Arnauld, world leader in luxury and high quality products, which will support F1 with a strategic partnership lasting ten years, thanks to which it is possible to give a solid foundation to the world of GPs, to plan a further leap in quality after the most recent successes. The more than legitimate question is: who is trying to make Domenicali look bad? Facts will speak louder than rumors…
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