the words of Ben Sulayem “unacceptable” – Corriere.it

Relations between Formula 1 and the FIA ​​are increasingly tense. Liberty Media, John Malone’s American group, in a letter sent to the Federation and the World Motorsport Council, defined Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s comments on the “inflated” evaluation of the price of F1 as “unacceptable” in response to the rumors published by Bloomberg on an offer from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund Pif worth 20 billion for the purchase of the Circus, which took place at the beginning of last year. Ben Sulayem with a message on social media had expressed caution regarding the “alleged inflated value attributed to F1” advising “any potential buyer to apply common sense, to consider the good of sport and present a clear and sustainable plan, and not just a a lot of money”. “It is our duty – he continued – to consider what the impact will be in terms of increased hosting fees and other commercial costs and any negative impact it could have on fans”. Words that triggered a very harsh reaction from F1, to the point of setting the legal affairs office in motion.

The reason? Commercial rights holders regard Ben Sulayem as a pitch invasion and they even reserve the right to take action against the FIA ​​”for damages to the value of F1″. The document, consulted by the British media, recalls the rules linking the two entities: according to the contract drawn up by then president Max Mosley, F1 exclusively holds the commercial rights for 100 years. The FIA ​​writes the rules, F1 organizes the races and promotes them. The F1 name is licensed by the FIA, in the event of a divorce the promoter would have to invent another name for the most important motoring series. «With the FIA ​​which undertakes not to commit any act that could in any way prejudice the ownership, management and exploitation of rights».

According to Liberty’s lawyers, the comments made by the FIA ​​president “interfere with our rights in an unacceptable way”. But there’s more: the same lawyers argue that in the event of a change of ownership of F1, a new buyer need not necessarily consult the FIA. In the subsequent passages of the letter it is specified that “since these comments damage the value of Liberty Media, and affect the shareholders, the FIA ​​could be held responsible”. Only the ending is conciliatory: “F1 and Liberty hope and are confident that it will no longer be necessary to go back to this question”.

It is yet another chapter in a war of power that has been shaking F1 for months, with chairman Ben Sulayem (who replaced Jean Todt at the end of 2021) intent on carving out more stage space and a bigger chunk of the revenue. And with
Stefano Domenicali
committed to parrying blows and growing the business. Almost every matter has been a source of discussion, before the Saudi offer there had been the case of the Andretti team entering F1 together with Cadillac in 2026. Welcomed with open arms by the former Dubai driver, while the promoter had demonstrated doubts and spoke of «other actors who have not yet discovered their cards».