F1 Teams Sign Concorde Agreement

The 10 teams of Formula 1 have agreed and signed a new Concorde Agreement that would guide the operations of the sport between 2021 and 2025. The Concorde Agreement concerns itself with the commercial nature of the sport, especially regarding revenue distribution.

Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams were the first teams to sign the agreement but other teams have since followed suit, including Mercedes, which had first had reservations over the terms of the agreement. The agreement is tripartite, being signed by the FIA, F1, and the 10 teams.

A new Concorde Agreement was necessary as the current one ends at the end of the year. Part of what the agreement covers is the distribution of prize money as the current method has been criticized for being unfair as it only favours the top, big teams while the smaller ones are left to struggle.

This new agreement would introduce a system that gives smaller teams access to more prize money. As explained by the chairman of the F1, Chase Carey, the new Concorde Agreement would “create an environment that is both financially fairer and closes the gaps between teams on the race track.”

A joint statement by the F1 and FIA captured the history of the Concorde and how the pandemic shaped teams’ response. It reads, “The agreement will secure the long-term sustainable future for Formula 1 and combined with the new regulations, announced in October 2019 that come into force in 2022, will reduce the financial and on track disparities between the teams, helping to level the playing field, creating closer racing on the track that our fans want to see more of. With closer racing we will attract more fans to our sport, benefitting every team, and continue to increase the global growth of Formula 1.”

President of the FIA, Jean Tidy, described the signing of the new Concorde Agreement as an act that would make the future of F1 more stable.

Written by: Leon Osamor