F1: FIA not interested in early renewal of Concorde Agreement

FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem says he has no interest is signing an early renewal of the current Concorde Agreement.

“There’s a consensus among the teams and the FIA and ourselves that now might be a good time to try and strike while the iron is hot and renew and extend the Concorde Agreement,” the CEO, Greg Maffei, said on a recent Liberty Media quarterly earning calls.

“I hope we have a more positive relationship, and everybody sees the benefit of going early and providing certainty for all involved.”

But in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said he sees no reason to renegotiate now.

“The Concorde is something that we have to address, but it has to fit all sides. You have the stakeholders, the partners, you have the FIA, you have Liberty Media, and you have the 10 teams, and and we have on top of that 18 months,” Ben Sulayem told AP this week. “So our house is not on fire. We need to talk to each other and get the best for all of us.”

“If you want a strong FIA, we have to work together and we have to empower the FIA because FIA is the regulator, they are the owners of the championships. They are the judges,” he told AP.

“When you go to the United States, speaking for example, you can speak to the big OEMs and the reason we can is because it is an FIA championship. If it’s not an FIA championship, it will end up like the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) with no regulator, no governing body. You need a governing body.

“You really think that these multinational corporations are going to waste their money on something that they don’t trust?” he asked. “We have the time, we will not be rushing it because we have 18 months. We want a better overall agreement for FIA, for Liberty and for the teams. We are on the right track, but it is a marathon.”