F1 buyout bid

[Hangaku]

This just popped up on my tracker. Interesting!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula ... 274848.stm

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and an Italian invesment firm linked to Ferrari are working on a possible bid to take control of Formula 1.

"Exor and News Corp will approach minority partners and key stakeholders in the sport," a joint Exor and News Corp statement read.

"There can be no certainty that this will lead to an approach to F1's current owners."

F1 is owned by the private equity firm CVC Partners.

[gray41]

the end of F1.

[donskar]

Rupert Murdoch's name is often associated with spurious stories. Wait a few days and see how this plays out. I read that it is him and Carlos Slim (whose name is also bandied about a lot).

[gridwalker]

Bernie has gone on record to say that he thinks the EU would block any NewsCorp takeover of F1's broadcasting, as part of their competition commission deal was that F1 would remain of free to view TV.

That's not to say that it won't happen; Murdoch's previous form indicates that they could easily take the hit and thrash out a settlement later, but it is something to remember whilst discussing this story.

[andrew]

This appeared last week and according to MrE is is rubbish.

I reckon Murdoch will become a series sponsor in time for the US GP either that or nothing will come of this.

[Hangaku]

Don't forget who holds the cards here.

Bernie is only as good as the next concorde agreement - if all the teams decide that they've had enough of FOM (FOA or whatever they are called now) and a new deal would see the teams with more in their pockets and greater freedom to race as they want to race, then that's what will happen.

I wonder if Bernie's recent endeavours to create fake wet races, and other such crackpot ideas are enough fuel for majority FOTA members to see this through and effectively give them what they said they were going for a couple of years ago - a new Formula One championship.

This I suspect, could be partly orchestrated by the FIA, as it's no secret that Bernie and Todt do not exactly get on with each other, especially in light of Bernie's statements about Todt, as can be seen here:

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/859024-ber ... max-mosley

And a recent article about FIA seeking a better deal here:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/04/t ... r-the-fia/

This would also explain why Bernie recently reported that he knew nothing of any deal - OF COURSE YOU DON'T BERNIE, IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.

Thoughts? Am I as crackpot as Bernie?

All makes pretty sound business sense to me! This old man is becoming a joke, and the FIA need someone to buy him out before F1 becomes a circus, clowns and all.