Spotlight shifts to FIA as F1 teams agree to partial Concorde Agreement

Formula 1 and its 11 2026 teams agreeing commercial terms for a new five-year Concorde Agreement is welcome information because the sequence is nearing the top of the present deal, and is making ready for Cadillac’s arrival.

Autosport understands the US producer has agreed to pay a $450m anti-dilution payment to be allowed in as an eleventh growth workforce, having not too long ago cleared the ultimate hurdles to safe a spot on the grid. Cadillac will in any other case be handled the identical as each different workforce and can compete for prize cash from yr one.

That cash can be break up equally between the ten current groups to make up for prize cash they are going to now must share with an additional occasion. And whereas some groups would have preferred to see Cadillac pay a a lot increased payment, as F1 workforce values have skyrocketed lately, the brand new determine is a compromise that can also be bearing in mind Cadillac proprietor GM including worth by means of promoting, trackside branding, hospitality and bringing its personal companions to the sequence 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 kind. In the meantime, the F1 value cap has been raised from $135m to $220m because it now contains varied new parts that have 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 sequence – which additionally entails the FIA – has not been forthcoming. The 2 paperwork are often signed and offered collectively, and in a rapidly issued FIA assertion on Sunday morning the governing physique mentioned “the governance side of the 2026 Concorde Settlement between FIA and FOM is nearing completion”.

Nevertheless, opposite to the FIA’s assertion Autosport understands a governance deal is definitely nonetheless distant, with little progress having been made in current weeks and months. Sources recommend FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has been intentionally stalling progress in a political act of brinkmanship that will power F1 into making concessions to the FIA to get a deal over the road.

It isn’t clear if the FIA merely assumed groups wouldn’t comply with announce a business deal with out having the governance half sorted out, which particulars the FIA’s function and contains parts like superlicence charges, if Ben Sulayem needed to be seen as having the final phrase.

Ben Sulayem will not be in Melbourne and isn’t planning to attend the opening leg of races as a consequence of Ramadan, along with his first F1 look anticipated to be the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, so it’s not clear how fast that course of can be.

What could possibly be a major factor within the newest energy play between FOM and the FIA is the fresh, 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 function he has performed in rising F1. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff mentioned Domenicali’s “monitor file speaks for itself”, whereas his McLaren counterpart Zak Brown additionally backed Domenicali’s longer tenure.

Whereas the FIA didn’t want to remark additional on the matter it did reiterate that its settlement was “close to completion”.