Bernie Ecclestone’s announcement that a majority of teams had agreed terms for the new 2013-2020 Concorde Agreement stirred up a lot of interest in the Sepang paddock, not least because by naming McLaren Bernie was making it clear that it was not just the leading teams that had exited FOTA – Ferrari and RBR – who were involved.
Nevertheless Mercedes and Williams are among those who have yet to join the party, and it’s clear that on this rather important subject FOTA unity is a thing of the past. There was a very firm “no comment” from the Stuttgart manufacturer.
Team bosses were generally keen to point out that negotiations were still ongoing, and that nothing had been signed.
“It means stability and consistency,” said Christian Horner. “Through the Concorde Agreement it protects and looks after the teams and the long term interests of the sport, so I think it’s really good news.”
“I think Bernie wants to deliver a positive news message for F1,” said Martin Whitmarsh. “And I think the fact that at the moment at least we don’t look like we’re breaking out in war is probably a positive news message, isn’t it?
“I think in fairness Bernie hasn’t said that the majority have signed, I think he’s said something along the lines that he has reached an agreement with the majority of the teams, and a majority must be seven or more, presumably. I don’t know what anyone has signed. McLaren hasn’t signed any document at the moment, but we are in talks with Bernie and the commercial rights holder.
“Until something’s signed, you haven’t got an agreement, but I think we are in constructive discussions, and I think others are saying the same sort of thing. I think the majority of teams are in those discussions at the moment.”
Asked why McLaren had appeared to have done a deal, Whitmarsh said: “I think the majority of the teams are finding an agreement, and I think you can either stick your head in the sand or you can say let’s find a pragmatic solution.
“Ultimately we have to have an agreement which involves the commercial rights holder, the FIA, and all of the teams that are competing. I think Bernie is trying to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. I think he’s still got a bit of work to do, but I sense it’s heading in a positive direction.”
Whitmarsh said the bigger picture was cost reduction and ensuring that teams can survive.
“We still today have a lot of teams here that probably don’t have long-term viable business models, so we’ve got to continue to work together to make sure that we’ve got sustainable business models for the majority of teams in F1.”
Adam Cooper F1 