The stance of the 10 teams that defended Toto and Susie Wolff from the accusations the FIA wants to pursue in an ethics commission investigation for an alleged conflict of interest has significantly changed the scenario. It is worth analyzing what the backdrop of the conflict between the International Federation and the promoter is: let’s find out what lies behind. How will Ben Sulayem react after the setback suffered yesterday?
The “Wolff” affair has allowed a clear understanding of the positions in the field. The ongoing match is destined to influence the future of Formula 1. The spectacular stance of the ten teams, which yesterday issued a joint statement on their respective social channels in defense of the Wolff couple, formalized the alignments. On one side, the International Federation led by President Ben Sulayem, on the other, the ten teams united with Liberty Media. In a still murky affair, at least this aspect is very clear.
The teams’ stance has changed the scenario significantly, dispelling the hypothesis that the action taken by the FIA was driven by one or more team principals, as reported by a media outlet. If we trust what each of the ten teams has publicly stated, it is not the case. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what the next step of the International Federation will be.
While the FIA is obviously free to act independently, it was the International Federation itself that cited “media speculation” as the reason for initiating the process. Now that the speculations have been denied by the team principals, it will be interesting to see if a proper investigation (with an accusatory framework supported by facts and/or testimonies that are currently unknown) will be launched or if, after the initial assessments, the whole matter will be dropped.
The “Wolff” case is another chapter in a ‘cold war’ between FIA President Ben Sulayem and Liberty Media. The new direction of the International Federation aims to have a primary role in the management of Formula 1, going beyond the regulatory responsibilities of the sport. However, there is a constraint that prevents the FIA from having a say in commercial aspects, set in the “100 Year Agreements,” the agreement signed in 2001 between the FIA (led at the time by President Max Mosley) and Bernie Ecclestone’s SLEC Holdings Limited. The International Federation more than twenty years ago ceded the commercial rights of the Formula 1 World Championship to SLEC for 100 years (from 2011 to 2110) in exchange for $313 million.
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The ball passed to Liberty Media in 2016 with the purchase of commercial rights for $4.6 billion (also taking on debts of over $3 billion), while in 2021, the FIA presidency passed from Jean Todt to Ben Sulayem. The latter immediately confirmed that he did not want to adhere to the roles of previous managements, claiming a central role even in the context of Formula 1. All this while Liberty Media managed to significantly increase the championship’s revenues, relaunching its commercial value to the point that last January, there were rumors about a Saudi fund interested in acquiring Liberty Media’s package for $20 billion.
At that time, Ben Sulayem‘s approach also emerged, intervening on the matter with a public statement in which he deemed the price of $20 billion inappropriate. Liberty Media’s reaction was immediate, inviting the FIA president not to interfere in matters outside his area of competence. The problem is precisely here; in Ben Sulayem’s view, the competence of the International Federation goes beyond that managed by his predecessors, and he wants to have a say even in areas where the current division of roles does not allow it.
The ‘Andretti’ issue is different. It is the FIA’s responsibility to evaluate any applications from new entities that require the possibility to enter Formula 1, and that’s what the International Federation has done by admitting the Andretti team. However, the FIA could not resist the temptation to release a public statement, thus passing the hot potato to Liberty Media. If the holder of the commercial rights accepts the entry of the Andretti team, it will make a choice contrary to the will of the ten teams currently in the championship; otherwise, it will reject the candidacy of an American team supported by an American car manufacturer as a power unit supplier. For a company based in Colorado, it would not be a very popular move.
Beyond the directly involved parties, the FIA-Liberty Media war sees a large part of the paddock as an interested but essentially powerless spectator. Occasionally, the idea of a split, the old GP1 project, emerges, in fact, the thermometer of relations between the Federation and the rights holder. When the relationship is critical, this idea always resurfaces; when it is set aside, it means that the relations are good. It is a threat waved by those who are aware that it is an unrealizable project. If Formula 1 has survived for 74 years, it means that, all in all, the balance works, despite ups and downs.
The idea of management without a counterpart would experience initial euphoria and then dissolve at the first difficulties. Mediation is needed, and this is the field where Ben Sulayem’s FIA seems to have its greatest limitations. It is true that Formula 1 is an FIA category, but it is also true that the FIA, without the funds it receives annually from Formula 1, would be forced to close its doors or undergo a profound downsizing that would de-nature it. The two parties are forced to coexist, and if they don’t find a way to do it, the protagonists of the story will be the ones who lose the most. The system will ensure a new chance with new faces around the table.
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