Formula 1 News

Ecclestone: “Big problems ahead for teams looking to set up new racing series” 

Formula One Management chief Bernie Ecclestone has threatened to take legal action against any FOTA team that may plan to set up new racing series for next year. If Renault, Ferrari and the other FOTA teams will leave Formula 1 and try to lure away sponsors, circuits and current television broadcasters, they will ‘face big problems‘ Ecclestone told the Daily Express.

“If they do try to set up their own series there are big problems ahead for them. Apart from my contracts with teams, if somebody went to any of our contracted people, companies, television contractors, we would view it very seriously,” he said.

“I’m not sure that the boards of teams such as Toyota and BMW, who are already looking to cut costs in F1, would sympathise and bankroll their teams going off to a series which would not be the FIA F1 championship,” he continued.

“It costs a lot of money to set up a series. Right now, we supply the venues at no cost to the teams, they roll up with all their sponsors’ names and money and race in front of a huge television audience which I supply through the contracts we win. That money flows back to the teams and they spend it. It would be different when they have to provide all the venues, hire their own race people, find their own television companies – and we have the best – and promote it,” he explained.

On the new Concorde Agreement requested by the FOTA teams, Ecclestone said: “The teams had a chance to sign the 1998 Concorde Agreement which would have protected them from Mosley’s technical changes, but they said no.”