Force India and Sauber withdraw their complaint

La F1 will ultimately escape an investigation by the European Union. Force India and Sauber had indeed filed a complaint with the European Commission by demanding accountability from the F1 governing bodies.

The two structures demanded accounts on the redistribution of income between the teams and on the processes for modifying and validating the regulations in the premier single-seater discipline. The arrival of Liberty Media to replace CVC as the new owner of the discipline prompted the Indian and Swiss teams to withdraw their complaint.

“We have decided to withdraw our complaint filed with the European Commission in 2015 regarding unsporting practices in F1, announced Force India and Alfa Romeo Sauber by joint press release. We were relieved by the discussions held with Chase Carey, the Executive Director and CEO of the F1 commercial rights owner and his management team. Their approach brought a new idea of ​​transparency to the discipline and they showed an openness to debate regarding fundamental issues such as income distribution, cost control and engine regulation. »

“We are reassured about the desire of the new management to have fair negotiations with all the teams. While our requests remain fully justified, we believe this new approach provides the necessary level of assurance as to whether our concerns will be investigated objectively. We prefer to resolve the problems encountered in the discipline through dialogue rather than through justice,” added the two teams.

Force India remains on a very good run after securing fourth place in the Manufacturers' Championship. On the other hand, Sauber struggled more as it finished last in the standings. In financial difficulty, the poor performances of the Swiss structure will not help it to turn things around since the income granted to each team depends in part on their results in the general classification.