Formula 1 racing organizers express their worries about the future of sport

Formula 1 racing organizers have expressed concerns about the future of the sport and have asked for a more open approach from their owners.

The FOPA (Association of Promoters of F1), which represents 16 of the 21 races on the calendar, says it wants "a more collaborative approach from F1".

FOPA discussed its concerns with F1 at a meeting in London on Tuesday.

Stuart Pringle, president of FOPA, said: "Everything indicates that the message has been received."

Pringle is General Manager of Great Britain's Grand Prix venue, Silverstone.

The circuits are worried about the loss of free television coverage, the lack of clarity of the rules and methods used by F1 to attract new races.

And they have the feeling that their voices have been ignored until now by F1 owners, the American group Liberty Media, which took over the sport in January 2017.

Pringle added: "We were frustrated to think that we had no choice but to take this kind of action, but in reality we had a very positive day.

"We believe that our concerns will be taken into account and, as a group of promoters, we recognize that ultimately, we all aspire to the same thing: a healthy sport.We want to work meaningfully to achieve this goal, so we will work together with them to move forward. "

Earlier, Pringle had described Liberty's approach as "disjointed" and said the circuits had "great concerns about the future health of the sport by the people who run it now."

The intervention of the circuits comes at a delicate moment for F1, the contracts of five major races to be renewed at the end of this season. Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany and Mexico have all lost their contracts after this year.

All want to continue but say they can not do it in the financial conditions of F1.

Race accommodation costs are the biggest source of income for F1. Circuits play an important role in discussions.

F1 refused to comment on the specific issues raised by the circuits.

What are the plans for F1?

Liberty is determined to make major changes to the way F1 is run. But discussions on their plans to introduce a budget ceiling, reorganize income distribution between teams and change the technical rules to make shopping closer have progressed slowly.

F1 has already had to give up its engine change plan, but insists negotiations are moving forward.

There has been no public confirmation of any agreement regarding the form of the sport after 2020, when the current contracts of the teams expire.

Sources close to F1 said that there was general agreement on the principle of a budget deficit and a redistribution of income, but nothing tangible was agreed.

The last plan provides for a degressive scale of fiscal restraint, starting around $ 175 million in 2021 and reduced to about $ 135 million in 2023. However, the exact numbers are yet to be finalized and many areas of spending will not be included – such as engines, marketing and salaries of the most expensive employees, including drivers.

What are the circuits' concerns?

The circuits indicate that it is risky to ask them to plan long-term contracts with a partner without knowing the direction taken by the product.

They worry about what they think is Liberty's willingness to give a mutually beneficial deal in Miami, which would actually have been offered at a free race because F1 was so eager to get an event in the city of Florida . Efforts to finalize an agreement have failed so far.

A circuit statement said: "There is no clarity on new initiatives in F1 and a lack of involvement of promoters in their implementation.

"New races should not be introduced at the expense of existing events although the badociation is encouraged by the alternative business models offered to potential sites."

The circuits also worry that the migration of television coverage from mainstream television channels to pay television or directly to the consumer via the own F1 channels will inevitably limit the attractiveness of the sport.

"It's not in the long-term interest of the sport that fans lose free access to content and broadcast," the statement said.

The UK is the last market to actually lose the live coverage of the races in 2019.

A new contract, negotiated by former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone before Liberty takes over, marks the beginning of the first phase of the program, which provides for live coverage of all races on Sky this year. . Only the Grand Prix of Great Britain will be live on Channel 4's Free 4, which will also broadcast the highlights of the other 20 races.

Circuits believe that moving from free Internet broadcasting will inevitably restrict the reach of F1 to casual viewers, and hardcore readers, which will immediately reduce the audience but threaten the attractiveness of the sport to the public. long term.

This particularly worries Silverstone, which has seen its participation in the MotoGP race fall after the free TV to pay TV and fears that the same thing would happen with F1, which would affect even more its ability to afford. to host the British Grand Prix.

British television followed a similar trend in Italy last year.

F1 points out that its global television audience has grown over the past two years since Liberty took control, for the first time in a decade. The total audience in 2017 was 1.755 billion and 1.758 billion in 2018.

However, live racing audiences decreased slightly from 2017 to 2018, which was reflected in a decline in Italy, without which the figures would have increased year-on-year.

The races represented by FOPA are: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Great Britain and the United States.