F1: Local businessmen sue to get a piece of the Las Vegas GP (Update)

A dispute that threatened to delay the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been settled out of court, according to an announcement from F1 owner Liberty Media.

Terms of a confidential settlement between F1, Liberty Media and P2M Motorsports were not disclosed.

A lawsuit filed by F1 (Formula One World Championship Ltd.) and Liberty Media Corp. on March 3, 2021, alleged that P2M was formed to serve as the promoter of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but the relationship with F1 and Liberty was never formalized.

The lawsuit characterized P2M’s demands as “extortionate” and said the race organizers refused to “allow P2M to continue to hold hostage its hopes for a Las Vegas race.” P2M allegedly interfered with negotiations.

Plans for the race can now move forward with the lawsuit no longer hanging over the event.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and R&R Partners had been unable to negotiate with F1 as threats of a lawsuit lingered.

Before the Las Vegas race occurs, organizers may have to deal with the brewing legal dispute that pits a Miami tech entrepreneur with ties to the Strip against Formula One and the mega-media and entertainment company that owns it according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The tech businessman, Farid Shidfar, who helped shape the Cosmopolitan resort brand when it opened on the Strip in 2010, sees himself as the underdog in the fight, facing what he calls “corporate greed and bullying” from giant Liberty Media Corporation, which owns F1.

Liberty Media and Formula One contend in court documents that Shidfar and his company have made “baseless threats” and “demands for multimillion-dollar payments.”

Shidfar told the Review-Journal that he and his partner, former Las Vegas Assemblyman Chad Christensen, spent 11 years paving the way for last week’s announcement to bring the race here but are getting no credit from Colorado-based Liberty Media for their efforts.

“We did everything in our power to make this happen,” the 52-year-old Shidfar said. “There is no question that we are the driving force behind the event. We spent a significant amount of time and resources to put it together.”

Christensen added: “When (Liberty Media) bought out Formula One, they never had any intention of speaking to us. Their way of speaking to us was to slap us with a lawsuit and push us out of the way. They want to crush us with their wallet.”

Shidfar claims in court documents to have struck an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s former CEO, to promote the Las Vegas race. He has a letter Ecclestone sent him in April 2013 indicating that he would sign a contract making Shidfar the promoter of the event. Ecclestone left F1 after Liberty Media acquired it in 2017.

Both Shidfar and Christensen, 52, said they brought together over the years the political, business and community leaders needed to turn the idea of the race into reality. Track designers, vendors, casino executives and CEOs from other F1 sites around the world were also among those approached.

In January 2014, Shidfar and Christensen filed state incorporation papers for a limited liability company, P2M Motorsports, to promote the race.

But in court documents, Liberty Media argues that P2M never obtained a valid agreement to promote the race and that F1 made no commitment to the company.

“As the litigation has progressed, F1 and Liberty Media maintain that position,” Amanda Yen, one of the attorneys representing the companies, said in an interview. There is more to this story at the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Despite the work they did, Shidfar and Christensen had no signed contract with F1, just a letter of intent 9 whole years ago with Bernie Ecclestone, hence will probably lose their court battle, but we can see Liberty Media offering them a sum of money for an out-of-court settlement, just to but this behind them.