Mclaren boss Zak Brown has admitted his team could pull out of F1 in 2021.
Liberty Media are drawing up plans to have a huge overhaul of F1 rules when the current agreement expires at the end of next year.
A meeting is taking place in London on Tuesday between representatives of all 10 teams. The lower-ranked teams want a fairer share of the revenue and also want a more competitive field that does not include three teams – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – running away with every race.
And Brown has claimed McLaren, F1’s second longest serving outfit, may have to withdraw from motorsport’s premier competition: “For McLaren it has to tick two boxes: to be financially viable and to be able to fight fairly and competitively,” Brown told the Guardian. – “If it wasn’t that, we would seriously have to consider our position in F1. That’s not a position we want to be in.
“People throw it out there as a negotiating tactic but this has to be a fiscally responsible, competitive racing team and, if we feel the new rules don’t put us in that situation, we would have to review our participation in F1.”
Ferrari were handed the lion’s agreement. But Brown insists his team will have to receive a better offer this time around: “Revenue distribution should be more balanced, should be performance oriented,” he added. – “To a lesser degree than today there should be recognition for your history. We all agree Ferrari is the biggest name and should be remunerated as such but not at the level that it is and you also should not be able to put that money into the racing.
Once it is levelled, that should accelerate everyone’s competitiveness.
“F1 has had dominant periods but a great F1 is no one dominates any more. It might mean a team winning two Championships on the trot – not five or six.”
