Ferrari accepts that reducing its share of Formula 1’s prize money is the ‘logical’ thing to do, according to the sport’s managing director Ross Brawn.
As RaceFans revealed last week, F1 projects Ferrari will receive $205 million in 2019, the most of any team. Its unique Long Standing Team bonus accounts for more than a third its total.Liberty Media’ proposed new prize money structure for 2021, revealed by RaceFans last year, would see Ferrari’s share reduced. However the Scuderia would continue to receive a $40 million bonus which must be taken as profit.
Speaking to The Guardian, Brawn said he believes Ferrari is prepared to give up its claim to the lion’s share of F1’s revenues.
“You are never going to attract new teams when you have such unfair distribution,” said Brawn. “Ferrari recognise that. They will fight tooth and nail for the best they can but logic will have a fair part in trying to find a solution.”
Under the current arrangement Ferrari would receive more money for finishing last in the championship than a team which receives no bonuses, such as Renault, would earn for winning it.
“There is too much disparity between the top two or three teams and the rest of the grid,” Brawn admitted. “You have a group of teams that could finish last and still earn more than the team that has won the world championship.
“We have to recognise the importance and history of Ferrari and the unique place it has in the sport but we also have to find a balance between that recognition and an equitable position for the rest.”
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JohnH (@johnrkh)
8th March 2019, 9:50
Ok looks like Ferrari are giving a little, what is Liberty going to give up?
GeeMac (@geemac)
8th March 2019, 10:31
Probably a rule change that hands first and second place in every third GP to Ferrari…
GS (@gsagostinho)
8th March 2019, 12:12
Ah, the Long Standing Team Podium.
Mach1 (@mach1)
8th March 2019, 12:18
They accept the logic……it does not say they accept it in practice…. ;)
Lyle Clarke
8th March 2019, 11:19
The Ferrari bonus shouldn’t exist, simple. I know McLaren and Williams (Red Bull and Mercedes too?) Also have a bonus but why is Ferrari’s higher? When’s the last time they won anything? If they quit, they quit. I don’t watch F1 for Ferrari, it would be a sad day yes, but I’d rather it was fair.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
8th March 2019, 11:44
Agree!
I may be wrong, but their higher bonus has to do with (continuously) being present in F1 from day 1 (1950), while McLaren joined F1 in mid-60s, while Williams in late 70s… and not because of the winning!
MF
8th March 2019, 11:57
Williams bonus seemed a bit low compared to the others and I always though it was because FW jumped in and signed first with the dodgy Bernie E.
I bet Williams cant wait for a revision in 2021.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
8th March 2019, 12:10
It’s not logical, it’s fair. F1’s prize money is generally unfair.
I mean, teams that finish dead last are earning more than the ones finishing ahead of them, the team finishing in 2nd still is getting more than the team finishing in 1st and probably worst of all the teams that actually NEED the money aren’t getting enough and the teams that have more than they know what to do with get the lion’s share. It’s enormously unequal and unfair and really just helps the powerful stay powerful and the weaker ones remain weak – or be pushed out entirely.
Robbie (@robbie)
8th March 2019, 13:59
@rocketpanda This is why Liberty is addressing the entire money distribution model for as soon as they can, which is post-2020.
The logical component of this is also when Brawn speaks to the lesser likelihood of new teams joining if things are too skewed towards one team like Ferrari. And sure that is not a new phenomenon for Ferrari and the others were handed a lot of power and money by BE in his last decade with CVC, but there just doesn’t currently seem to be a lot of entities lining up to enter F1. But who knows who is out there strongly considering it. Hopefully there are a few entities poised and just need to see what F1 looks like in 2021 before they commit. If I were one of them I certainly wouldn’t join now knowing an entirely different car will need to be built for the new era.
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
8th March 2019, 19:37
Let’s see. Brawn said Ferrari accept that reducing…again REDUCING their share of the F1 prize money is the logical thing to do, but he didn’t say reduce by how much. Also, I may know that putting down that extra piece of key lime pie is the logical thing to do, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.
Brawn also said they are going to fight tooth and nail to get the best deal they can, so again, while Ferrari know that it’s logical to reduce their share of the prize money, it doesn’t mean they are going to agree to do so or not demand some other form of compensation.
Robbie (@robbie)
9th March 2019, 14:08
@velocityboy I get your pessimism no doubt due to the power Ferrari wields, but I get no sense that Ferrari are going to continue to play hardball with this. I think they did some of that early on when Brawn first started introducing to the teams their thoughts on where they want to take F1, but there has been much discussion and negotiation since, and to me it truly feels like Ferrari will accept less for the greater good of the sport. The top teams in general will get less and the lesser teams will get more.
I just think it’s 50/50 on whether Ferrari needs F1 or F1 needs Ferrari. They both need each other as far as I can see, so even Ferrari understands that they will not want to race in a series that they played a hand in seeing erode to only 7 or 8 teams left that can afford it. The goal (one of them) is to make F1 invitable to a few more teams, not to keep scaring them away. Ferrari gets the logic to not scaring new entrants away. And let’s not underestimate the strength Brawn likely has in getting through to Ferrari given his incredible piece of Ferrari’s history with Michael Schumacher. He knows intimately what they’re all about and how to talk to them.
GongTong (@gongtong)
8th March 2019, 20:17
“We have to recognise the importance and history of Ferrari and the unique place it has in the sport but we also have to find a balance between that recognition and an equitable position for the rest.”
I’m not a fan of Ferrari, but I agree entirely. We SHOULD recognise the importance of the history of Ferrari.
Just not financially.