Eighth concord agreement

[roon]

The last three concorde agreements have led to new eras for a consistently high-scoring team. Ferrari, RB, Merc, for the last three.

What will the eighth concorde agreement of 2021 entail outside of engine and aero regulations? Who might inherit the next 'era?' If such a trend can be said to exist outside of coincidence.

Does an eighth agreement need to happen after the seventh expires Dec 2020? Can or may something else occur?

[Just_a_fan]

I'm not sure the Concorde Agreements lead to eras in the way you suggest, it's just that they were at a similar time to rule changes.

The real questions is: do we need another Concorde Agreement? The Agreements were only ever really a method for Bernie to take control of F1 for his own commercial gain. Him and Max played the teams and FISA / FIA beautifully.

Time to move on. After all, most racing series don't have Concorde Agreements so why does F1 need one?

[Big Tea]

It seems Mercedes is the team with the power now, so unless they have a failed bluff, or mis calculation, why would they accept anything that weakens them?
Ferrari were the legend, Red bull were the money, now Merc seem to hold both cards.

More of the same ?

[izzy]

I'm not sure the Concorde Agreements lead to eras in the way you suggest, it's just that they were at a similar time to rule changes.

The real questions is: do we need another Concorde Agreement? The Agreements were only ever really a method for Bernie to take control of F1 for his own commercial gain. Him and Max played the teams and FISA / FIA beautifully.

Time to move on. After all, most racing series don't have Concorde Agreements so why does F1 need one?

Doesn't F1 need long term contracts with teams because F1 is basically a huge house of cards? There are all these billions being invested and taken out but in principle it could all just evaporate. In 18 months all the teams could just go off and do something on their own.

[Just_a_fan]

They're all limited companies. Any and all of them could step away tomorrow if they wanted to and there's little anyone could do about it, contract or not. They stay because it suits them to do so. Certainly a simpler, fairer relationship between the FIA and the teams would be a better thing for all concerned, except maybe Ferrari.

[Jolle]

A lot has changed since the first agreement in 1981.

Before the agreement every team could/would make a deal with the local promoter who had a deal with TV stations and advertising, etc etc. F1 as a business became stable and opened the door for many investors that made it into the billion dollar road show it’s now.

The budget cap and that many of the top teams aren’t privately owned (so they don’t race for making more money but for marketing purposes) could lead to a better distribution for the sake of competition/show. I know... it’s a bit of hope...

Without an agreement the power of F1 would be in the sole hands of Liberty and the FIA which could make some things simpler but also a bit scary.

[izzy]

They're all limited companies. Any and all of them could step away tomorrow if they wanted to and there's little anyone could do about it, contract or not. They stay because it suits them to do so. Certainly a simpler, fairer relationship between the FIA and the teams would be a better thing for all concerned, except maybe Ferrari.

Well if they breach a contract they could get sued, that's the point of contracts. But yes they have to all want it don't they. It's an interesting balancing act now, that it's owned by a media company who basically want pay per view or subscriptions, while the teams want reach for their brands and sponsors.

Of course they each want some of the other too - the broadcast rights give money to the teams making it all cheaper, and F1 has to build its own brand to sell, meaning lots of viewers. Then on top of that there's how the pie gets sliced up between the teams. It'd make a great reality TV show, Liberty, if you had to negotiate it in a house on an island

[Just_a_fan]

Enforcing a contract against a company that has suddenly ceased trading is not straight forward...

[izzy]

Enforcing a contract against a company that has suddenly ceased trading is not straight forward...

They'd lose their F1 entry if they ceased trading, and any F1 team is worth millions, so it'd be the most massive sulk in history, tho this is F1 so who knows

But liberty's risk is if the matey OEMs decide to do something without them isn't it. Not likely but not impossible either

[Just_a_fan]

The point is that if Mercedes decided they'd had enough of F1, they could just walk away.

[izzy]

The point is that if Mercedes decided they'd had enough of F1, they could just walk away.

Yes they can now, after 2020, that's what Liberty have to prevent. But once they sign the next contract they can't, unless the contract allowed it which isn't likely as the whole idea is to stick the house of cards together for another 5 years

[subcritical71]

I think the teams get too much say when F1 try to lock them in. I would personally not mind seeing teams come and go based on their whims. That is life and then F1 would have to adjust. It feels they are currently in a situation where the teams have so many concessions to keep them in the sport that the commercial rights holder and regulators have essentially lost the ability to steer the ship.