The “Wolff” affair allowed us to have a clear picture of the positions in the field. The current match is destined to influence the future of Formula 1. The spectacular stance taken by the ten teams, who yesterday in a joint statement on their respective social channels took sides in defense of the Wolffs, has made the alignments official. On one side the International Federation led by president Ben Sulayem, on the other the ten compact teams together with Liberty Media. In a still murky matter, at least this aspect is very clear.
The stance taken by the teams changed the scenario a lot, collapsing the hypothesis that the action taken by the FIA was based on the push of one or more team principals, as reported by a media outlet. If we trust what each of the ten teams publicly declared, this is in fact not the case, so it will be interesting to see what the International Federation’s next step will be.
Without prejudice to the fact that the FIA is obviously free to act independently, it was the International Federation itself that cited “media speculation” as the reason that triggered the proceedings. Now that the speculations have been denied by the team principals, it will be interesting to see if a real investigation will be launched (with an accusatory system supported by facts and/or testimonies that are not currently known) or if after the initial assessments the entire matter will be abandoned.
Photo by: Erik Junius
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
The “Wolff” case is yet another chapter in an ongoing ‘cold war’ between FIA president Ben Sulayem and Liberty Media. The new course of the International Federation aims to have a primary role in the management of Formula 1, going beyond the regulatory responsibilities of the sport. However, there is a constraint that does not allow the FIA to have a say in the commercial aspects, set in the “100 Year Agreements”, i.e. the agreement stipulated in 2001 between the FIA (led at the time by president Max Mosley) and the SLEC Bernie Ecclestone’s Holdings Limited. More than twenty years ago, the International Federation sold the commercial rights of the Formula 1 world championship to SLEC for 100 years (from 2011 and 2110) with a consideration of 313 million dollars.
The ball passed to Liberty Media in 2016 with the purchase of commercial rights for 4.6 billion dollars (also taking on pending debts of over 3 billion) while in 2021 the presidency of the FIA passed from Jean Todt to Ben Sulayem. The latter immediately confirmed that he did not want to submit to the roles of previous managements, claiming a central position also in the context of Formula 1. All this while Liberty Media managed to significantly increase the revenues of the championship, relaunching its commercial value to the point that last January rumors emerged regarding a Saudi fund interested in taking over the stake held by Liberty Media for 20 billion dollars.
At that juncture, Ben Sulayem’s approach also emerged, intervening on the matter with a public statement in which he defined the price of 20 billion as inappropriate. Liberty Media’s reaction was immediate, with an invitation to the FIA president not to interfere in matters outside his area of competence. The problem is precisely here, in Ben Sulayem’s vision the area of competence of the International Federation goes beyond that managed by his predecessors, and he wants to have a say even in areas where the current division of roles does not allow it.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Michael Andretti
The ‘Andretti’ issue is different. It is the responsibility of the FIA to evaluate any applications for new structures that require the possibility of entering Formula 1, and this is what the International Federation has done by admitting the Andretti team. However, the FIA could not resist the temptation to issue a public statement in which it blatantly passed the buck to Liberty Media. If the holder of the commercial rights accepts the entry of the Andretti team, he will make a choice contrary to the will of the ten teams present in the championship today, vice versa he will reject the candidacy of an American team supported by an American manufacturer as a supplier of power units. For a company based in Colorado, that wouldn’t be a very popular operation.
Beyond those directly involved, the FIA-Liberty war sees a large part of the paddock in the role of very interested but effectively powerless spectators. From time to time the hypothesis of a split resurfaces, the ancient GP1 project, in fact the thermometer of the relations between the Federation and the rights holder. When the relationship is critical this idea always resurfaces, when it is set aside it means that the relationships are good. It is a threat waved by those who are aware that it is an unrealizable project. If Formula 1 has survived for 74 years it means that all in all the balance works, despite its ups and downs.
The idea of management without a counterpart would experience initial euphoria and then dissolve at the first difficulties. Mediation is needed, and this is the field in which Ben Sulayem’s FIA seems to have its greatest limitations. It is true that Formula 1 is an FIA category, but it is also true that the FIA without the funds it receives annually from Formula 1 would be forced to close its doors, or undergo a profound downsizing which would effectively distort its nature. The two parties are forced to coexist, and if they don’t find a way to do so, the protagonists of the story will lose the most. The system will guarantee itself a new possibility with new faces around the table.
#FIA #FOM #clash #contours #war