MOTORSPORT: Formula One awash with money

The latest company filing of Formula One Administration (FOA), headed by Bernie Ecclestone but with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners now the main shareholder, has revealed it had revenue – or sales – of US$1.08 billion last year.

That was up $19 million from 2009, helped by the addition of the South Korean Grand Prix to the world championship and the return of the Canadian GP.

Net profit last year was US$296 million.

The F1 teams received more than twice that - US$658 million – from FOA in what has been described as "prizemoney", although it would be a combination of reward for track results and a share of TV income.

That distribution was up 21 per cent on 2009 – and 164 per cent greater than in 2007.

CVC, which acquired a majority stake in FOA in 2005, had pledged to increase the returns to teams to head off a breakaway GP series threatened by car manufacturers.

Payments to the teams are made under the Concorde Agreement, the contract which governs the sport's commercial aspects.

The existing Concorde Agreement expires at the end of this year and Jean Todt, the former Ferrari team chief now heading motorsport's world governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), is trying to exercise some leverage in the negotiations.

Todt wants the separate commercial agreement between Ecclestone's empire and the FIA renegotiated.

That 100-year deal was done a decade ago by Todt's predecessor as FIA president, Max Mosley.

Todt has said the contract, involving payment of US$300 million for the century, does not accurately reflect F1's place in today's world.

"I will make sure that everybody realises that since the (100-year) agreement has been signed, and now times have changed, technology has changed," Todt told London's Financial Times.

"Fifteen years ago you didn't have all the sophisticated electronics you can enjoy today when you watch the TV. All that has a cost.

"Definitely we need to take that into consideration because I must make sure that the funding for the FIA is correct.

"Our costs are greater than they were 10 years ago. Evolution has a price."

Todt and Ecclestone already are coming to loggerheads over future F1 rules, with the FIA president pushing for "greener", smaller-engined turbocharged cars to mirror the changing motor industry but Ecclestone wanting to retain the unique sound of F1 machines.

Relations are likely to become even more strained as Todt tries to extract a greater slice of F1's revenue streams for the FIA's environmental and safety initiatives.

Red Bull Racing says it did not find any major problem with Webber's RB7 car after Melbourne, although there was a fault in a rear damper.

"There were a few issues on the post-mortem that we could see had contributed," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said.

"I think probably the most telling one was an issue with a rear damper that definitely at some point of the race had happened.

"We have obviously replaced all the components and I think we have a fairly good understanding as to why, and hopefully Mark will be back to his usual form this weekend.

"I think that you had a combination of factors (for Webber in Melbourne).

"Sebastian (world champion and Melbourne victor Sebastian Vettel) was in electrifying form.

"There was perhaps a set-up direction that Mark went in that was a little bit different to Sebastian, but we are talking minimal differences.

"And then we found this small issue with a rear damper.

"You try to piece together a puzzle but there is no smoking gun to say, yes, there is the performance difference.

"Melbourne has never been a particularly great event for Mark - he has finished fifth for Minardi, fifth for Williams and fifth for Red Bull.

"It has almost been like a bogey circuit for him, so he won't be dwelling on Melbourne.

"He will be very much focused on this weekend and a track (Sepang) that he has always gone well at.

"Last year the average gap between the two of them was just under 0.2 seconds (a lap) throughout the season.

"We did see some differences, like in Singapore (and especially Abu Dhabi), where that gap was exaggerated.

"But Mark has always gone well in Malaysia and I expect him to be in good form this weekend."

Webber said he was keen to return to spraying some champagne this Sunday.

"After a disappointing race in Melbourne, we've made some changes to the set-up of the car at this race," he said.

"I wasn't unhappy with the balance at Albert Park, but the lap times weren't there and the tyre degradation was too high.

"If the new set-up has the expected results I can race well at Sepang."

Webber scored his first F1 front row qualifying position at Sepang in 2004 and started from pole position last year before finishing second in the race.

"I like the track," he said.

"It has a good mix of high and low-speed corners, so it's a good challenge for the drivers.

"There are also some long straights and heavy braking areas, so overtaking will be possible, particularly with the new DRS wing (adjustable from the cockpit).

"If the wing doesn't work here I don't think it's going to work anywhere."

The long run to Sepang's first corner has sparked lots of talk about whether Red Bull will use KERS, the Kinetic Energy Recovery System that can give a driver a short boost of an extra 80 horsepower, this weekend.

"We didn't use KERS in Melbourne because we weren't completely confident about the reliability of our system," Webber said.

"We're developing it all the time and we'll test it again during practice, then we will  make a decision about whether or not to race it.

"The car wasn't too shabby without it in Australia, so we're not going to rush it on to the car."

The Malaysian GP will start at 4pm Kuala Lumpur time - just when the rain usually starts there.

"I expect to use Pirelli's wet tyres at some stage over the weekend," Webber said.

"It never drizzles in this part of the world, it pours, and you risk flooding and all sorts.

"The rain doesn't make it much cooler in the cockpit either. It's sure to be an eventful weekend."

"Right, shall I explain it in very basic words how it works," Horner said yesterday.

"McLaren have developed a car that has a very low rear ride height, and therefore a low front wing for them doesn't work.

"We run quite a high rake angle in our car so inevitably, when the rear of the car is higher, the front of the car is going to be lower to the ground.

"It is obvious science, and therefore our wing complies fully with the regulations.

"It will look lower to the ground because the rake in our car is higher.

"It is simple mathematics."

"They [McLaren] have developed a car that is effectively a different philosophy to ours and so the benefit that we see from the front wing is different to the one that they would see from the front wing.

"That is the basis behind it fundamentally."

The bigger clue to the RB7's secret could the exhaust flows from its Renault RS37 engine, see here http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/372122/Burning_fuel_to_gain_downforce/
and
http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/371997/Renault_Sport_reveals_high_fuel_consumption/

"We ran identical lap times, so he's right there - he knows what he's doing," Busch said.

And Raikkonen said: "It was a lot of fun. I really had no expectations or anything to compare it to beforehand. I am really looking forward to (my) first race."

The 2007 F1 world champion now competing in the World Rally Championship plans to drive three to five pick-up truck races for Busch this year, starting at Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 20.

There is some talk of a Sprint Cup debut at Infineon Raceway in California in June, although that would seem too soon.

Busch is unlikely to be able to supply the 31-year-old Finn with Nationwide or Cup cars in the near future.

Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing said it would be difficult for an organisation like his to try to field a part-time car for Raikkonen because he would have to hire crew full-time even though the schedule would be part-time.

"I'm not interested in having Kimi right now," Stewart said.

"There's no doubt he can drive a race car and has a lot of talent, but he's got to drive a stock car quite a while before we're going to look at someone like him to jump in a car."

NASCAR this weekend is in Texas, the second round of the IndyCar series is at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, with Australians Will Power and Ryan Briscoe likely to be among the frontrunners there for Team Penske, while in Europe the second round of the GT1 world championship is at Zolder in Belgium with David Brabham having his second race in a Nissan GTR.

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