F1 Concorde Agreement: An In-depth Look into FIA's Holdout

Mar.18 - The FIA is yet to sign on the dotted line of the new five-year Concorde Agreement.

With the critical document that binds the teams with Formula 1's commercial rights holder and the governing FIA expiring this year, F1 made the announcement about the new deal for 2026 and beyond on the day of the season opening Australian GP.

Closer inspection, however, showed that F1 revealed only that "all teams" have signed, even though the statement added that the deal "secures the long-term economic strength of the sport".

Liberty Media-owned F1 continued: "The 2026 Concorde Governance Agreement will be finalised in due course."

According to Auto Motor und Sport journalist Michael Schmidt, "The FIA, as a third partner, is not yet on board."

Clear tension has existed for months between Liberty and the teams on the one hand, and the Mohammed Ben Sulayem-led FIA on the other.

Schmidt, though, believes Ben Sulayem is expected to sign the new Concorde "soon".

"According to FIA sources, the contract is already with the lawyers," he added.

It is believed not all the existing ten teams signed at the same time. One stumbling block was the so-called 'anti-dilution' fee payable by the new team for 2026, Cadillac. Reports suggest the eventual number was a whopping $450 million.

That money will be split equally among the existing ten teams, Schmidt said.

But provisions for a potential twelfth team in the future also needed to be written into the new Concorde, with Auto Motor und Sport explaining: "The aim is to prevent a repeat of the Andretti drama at all costs."

As for the delay in getting the FIA's final signature, Schmidt says the hold-up is the "repeated disagreements over rule-making" recently, while president Ben Sulayem has been demanding "significantly more funding for the future, citing the increased workload and personnel requirements".

"According to FIA representatives," the German correspondent concluded, "negotiations with Formula 1 are in the final stages.

"Rule-making and marketing issues have apparently been resolved. Now all that's left is legal approval."

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