"How can you possibly make an announcement with so many unknowns?"

Chase Carey of Liberty Media stated this week that he expects to finish at least another fifteen Grands Prix this season. A provisional calendar circulating at the moment suggests that Formula 1 will fly all over the world to do so. According to Paul Hembery, the man who was succeeded by Mario Isola at Pirelli, this is an irresponsible ambition.

“How can you possibly make an announcement with so many unknowns?", says the former Pirelli boss to The Sun. “Europe is in lockdown, so any idea of having races in July would be foolhardy given the unknowns. If there was any statement from F1, then it should have been one cancelling the season and working on a genuine Plan B. It’s all about money and survival, the same as any business. F1 is not immune.”

So Liberty Media would be wise to forget about the current season. That this does not happen, however, would have to do with more than just money. Hembery, who has been active in sport for 25 years, thinks that a power struggle with regard to the concorde agreement also plays a role in the background.

Machtsstrijd achter de schermen

“It was convenient for Liberty at first for it [the concorcde agreement] to drag on because the later it went, it reduced the teams’ negotiating power. Now there is a risk that the car manufacturers could pull out as a way of cost saving. Their contract with F1 would have expired so, when their bosses are looking to save £300million, they could say ‘we are out of F1.’”

So Liberty Media is committed to keeping the sport profitable for the manufacturers. Giving up the entire 2020 season would therefore jeopardise the involvement of a number of manufacturers and thus indirectly the survival of Formula 1.