Some teams received an advance from Liberty Media

The Coronavirus pandemic places the 10 teams on the grid in a delicate position financially and threatens even the existence of the most modest structures. 

The teams in fact derive a large part of their income from payments made to them by the holder of the commercial rights, namely Liberty Media, whose nest egg is made up of 3 major sources: the packages paid by the 22 promoters of the calendar, the sums paid by official broadcasters to acquire the rights to the discipline, and the sponsorship agreements signed by the 6 global partners of the discipline. 

However, these sources are likely to dry up, with the current health situation preventing the holding of a Grand Prix before at least the start of summer. In this uncertain and difficult context, Liberty Media has therefore anticipated certain payments. 

« We have already advanced money to certain teams, said Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, during a conference call with financial investors this Thursday.  

We could still do it in certain cases; we have other options to help teams in need. We want to make sure the teams are solvent because we need them to race in 2020, 2021, and beyond ». 

Maffei, however, clarified that it was not a question of “ write blank checks on the chain ". The Liberty boss also revealed that the American group was working on different scenarios so that the F1 faces the looming economic crisis and does not rule out the possibility of experiencing a white season. 

« We have a model with no races, others which include between 15 and 18 rounds, closed-door events, added Maffei. All options represent a challenge. Chase (Carey, CEO of Formula One Group) and his team presented us with different action plans but we still do not know the timing and the delays necessary to go from one destination to another, without knowing whether the latter will be open or not.

If we cannot accommodate spectators, our profitability will drop and could even fall to 0. We are strong enough to withstand the blow but the stables have high operating costs and some do not receive any guarantee from the F1. Their income is mainly based on profits from the discipline ».

Remember that in addition to the traditional prize money, based on the ranking of the Manufacturers' championship, certain teams, typically the big cars, receive various historical or premium bonuses that are initially nebulous to say the least and independent of their results.

Several radical measures have already been adopted to try to reduce the impact of the crisis on F1. The 2021 technical revolution was postponed by a year, the 2022 aerodynamic development was frozen in 2020, and the mandatory annual factory closures were brought forward to the spring and extended from 14 to 35 days.