No risk of F1 teams shutting down: Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone, the head of Formula One, has said that there is no risk of any of the sports’ 11 teams going bankrupt despite the current weak economic climate, according to Autoweek. The Spanish HRT team shut down at the end of last year, raising fears that more teams might follow, but since then a number of drivers paying to race have signed with the remaining teams. [caption id=“attachment_627397” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. Reuters[/caption] Ecclestone said he met with some of the smaller teams last week to discuss the Concorde Agreement, the contract which governs F1, according to Autoweek. “On Thursday I was bringing the teams up to speed with the new Concorde Agreement,” Ecclestone said. “They are all safe. We have got a deal with them all, including Marussia. We are continuing with Marussia. I thought they were going to go but they are not.” Marussia, the Russian team, was thought to be a candidate to shut its doors but Graeme Lowdon, their sporting director, said the team was working out an agreement with F1. Marussia lost $72.6 million for the year ended 31 December, 2011, but is searching for new revenue opportunities ahead of this season. The new Concorde Agreement will also boost the teams’ earnings. The previous contract gave the top 10 teams a 47.5 percent share of F1’s profits while those outside the top 10 got $10 million each. The new contract would give the top 10 teams 63% of profits, raising their take by roughly $150 million to $850 million. The teams want a new Concorde because it gives them influence over F1’s technical regulations, Autoweek said, and this is crucial because the plan is for F1’s engine specification to change next year from the current 2.4 liter V8s to 1.6-liter turbocharged V6s. According to Autoweek, this would be the most drastic change in decades and the worry is the cars will lose their distinctive F1 sound. Read the full story here.