Baku ask Liberty for better deal from 2021

The Azerbaijan GP organisers have asked Formula 1 chiefs for a reduction in the race sanction fee it pays from 2021 onwards.

The event currently pays one of the biggest fees of any race on the calendar, a move that was necessary to convince Bernie Ecclestone to give it his blessing and convince the F1 teams that Baku would be financially worthwhile.

Ecclestone agreed a 10-year deal, with a break clause after five years.

Having run three races thus far, Azerbaijan is committed to the current arrangements for the next two years, which will see out the first half of the original contract.

"We have a contract which is a binding contract for five years, for five races, starting in 2016," said Azerbaijan promoter Arif Rahimov.

"Neither of us can break it unless we agree to break it.

"We haven't triggered the break clause. We're negotiating on the second part of the contract. We all know we need to improve bits, so we're trying hard to make sure that it's good for us and good for F1."

Since Liberty came on board, more information about what races pay has emerged, and thus promoters have a better idea of what other events typically pay,

"In general we want to be close to the average. Now that it's public information I think everyone knows what the average is," added Rahimov.