MotoGP has gone retro to celebrate their 75th anniversary and you will get a chance to see some of the retro liveries in this week’s Business of Motorsport Roundup. I also have news on the turmoil at Alpine F1, the Rally di Roma Capitale’s WRC aspirations and how Michael Schumacher’s Benetton contract demonstrates the importance of language in a contract.
Motorsport Industry News
Formula 1
Front Office Sports looks at the details beyond the numbers to qualify the $1.5B that Las Vegas touts as the impact that the F1 race had on the city (and the reason they signed on as an F1 premium sponsor).
While the city attempts to boast about the economic impacts of the race, several business owners have said they’ve been negatively impacted by the race, with one, Ellis Island Hotel and Casino, filing a lawsuit against the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County in May.
“Plaintiffs’ reasonable and justified business expectations were substantially interfered with, compromised, and adversely impacted when Defendants herein transferred the public rights of way abutting and/or adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip into a 3.8-mile race track and apparently entered into contractual agreements to do so for up to an additional nine (9) years into the future,” the suit read.
Las Vegas Touts $1.5B Formula One Impact, but Reality Is Complicated
Read more at Front Office Sports.
With Max Verstappen no longer invincible and some questioning whether the Red Bull dynasty is in danger, Circuit of The Americas has seen a major uptick in Formula 1 ticket sales over the last three weeks, a good sign for the racing series that had been facing questions over its competition just a few months ago.
Track chairman Bobby Epstein told Sports Business Journal: “It’s not following any trend like we’ve seen in the past. The spike the last month has been incredible. It shows fans are paying attention.” Read more here.
With all the changes at Alpine and the announcement of new Team Principal Oliver Oakes (see Team & Manufacturer News below), Renault has confirmed that they are pulling out of the F1 engine business with Bruno Famin explaining that the new cost cap rules make building an engine cost-prohibitive.
“When you see the [research and development] costs in developing a PU compared to buying a PU, there is a huge difference,” said Famin. “That huge difference is not compensated by any prize fund because all the prize fund goes to the team. Then we are not talking about performance, we are talking about a huge difference in money.”
Based on this fact, some feel that it is pretty clear that Renault is preparing to sell the team, even though the change in team boss could actually make a difference on the track. “This should give Alpine a focused leader again, more akin to the short-lived Szafnauer ‘era’, just with a slightly different upper management structure – Briatore and Alpine CEO Philippe Krief (who is detached from the F1 project) compared to ex-Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi (who was more intrusive and created friction).”
How this all plays out, and what Ryan Reynolds has to say about it, will be something to watch in the coming months.
Speaking of Alpine, their former Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed that he is working with a new US investment project that is evaluating an F1 entry, and no, it is not Andretti.
“I’ve been working with some organizations in North America that have the funding to start an 11th team. It’s not Andretti. Now we’re just putting some of those building blocks in place to make sure that we have everything that’s required in order to be successful to both start a team, but also get an entry. So, you know, that’s interesting too.”
General Motorsport Industry News
As MotoGP celebrates their 75th anniversary this weekend with some fantastic looking retro liveries, the series has announced that they will be returning to India in 2025, despite this year’s Indian Grand Prix cancellation. MotoGP has announced it has agreed a new contract with the Uttar Pradesh state government to host the Indian Grand Prix from 2025, inking a three-year deal.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, said: “We’re very happy to announce this new agreement made directly with the government of Uttar Pradesh. “The inaugural Indian Grand Prix was a key success and brought an enormous amount of value to both MotoGP and our host region of UP, so it’s fantastic we are able to continue building that together into the future.”
Forbes reveals how IndyCar rivals Honda and Chevrolet collaborated on the IndyCar hybrid engine. “Under the direction of IndyCar, Honda Racing Corporation, USA engineers focused its efforts on the Energy Storage System (ESS). Chevrolet took over the planning, development and implementation of the Motor Generator Unit (MGU). The two companies simultaneously worked on their part of the project and were able to deliver the unit to each of their teams by the July 7 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.”
Read the full story at Forbes.
Rally di Roma Capitale has its sights set on joining the World Rally Championship in the future with organizers “working hard” to elevate the event to rallying’s top-flight.
“We are working for that [to reach the WRC] and that is not only our mission,” said Max Rendina, President of the Regional Sports Commission of Lazio. “We have to talk with the FIA and the WRC Promoter and the Italian federation [ACI] but we are working hard for that. If we do not succeed, we will try again.”
Read more at Autosport.
Formula 1 wants its primary feeder series supporting more grands prix, but talks to take Formula 2 to America have so far not come off according to series CEO Bruno Michel in an interview in Formula Scout.
“Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] would like us to be everywhere,” said F2 and F3’s CEO Bruno Michel recently, explaining it would be impossible on F2 teams’ budgets to do a 24-round, multi-continental season.
Read the rest of the story at Formula Scout.
Quick Takes on the Business of Motorsport This Week
- Michelin North America Names Cotton as New Director of Motorsports (Sportscar365)
- Both BBS and Recaro have filed for bankruptcy (Grassroots Motorsports)
- Sim Racing Powerhouse Fanatec Slips Into Bankruptcy After Investor Stopped Payments (MSN/Jalopnik)
- Friends of Laguna Seca activates long-term concession agreement (Racer)
- Review: How To Build A Car by Adrian Newey (Podium Life)
- Region Development Grant Deadline Less than a Month Away (Sports Car Club of America)
- Promoter appointed for MotorSport New Zealand Premier Race Championship (Velocity News)
- Formula E surpasses one million followers on TikTok (Formula E)
- F1 Arcade completes $130M raise (F1 Arcade)
- Accelerate Your Motorsport Career with Fluid Jobs (Fluid Jobs)
The Numbers
Blinkfire Analytics reports that McLaren Racing had their moment in the spotlight when they went 1-2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri claimed his first ever victory and Lando Norris claimed second place. On top of leading all F1 teams in terms of total engagements during that week, the team’s social channels also generated 33.8 million video views — second only to Oracle Red Bull Racing.
Motorsport Law Roundup
A look at some of the legal and regulatory issues and analysis in Motorsport this week
The Spa-Francorchamps Circuit is not only the scene of some epic battles on track, but some pretty fascinating battles off track as well. While Trevor Carlin touches on the incident in his wonderful Autosport Plus piece When Spa’s significance was elevated for off-track key players, the poaching of Michael Schumacher from Jordan by Benetton after the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix was either a brilliant legal maneuver or a completely unsportsmanlike thing to do, depending on what side of the fence you were on.
In a nutshell, Jordan had what they thought was a contract for Schumacher’s services for the remainder of the season and beyond. But unbeknownst to Eddie Jordan, Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber had been in discussions with Benetton for a drive with that team. This was reported by Motorsport News in the UK back in 2005, when it uncovered a key letter change in the contract being negotiated. This was what the initial agreement said that was faxed to Michael Schumacher to sign:
Dear Eddie,
I confirm that if you enter me in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix I will sign the driver agreement with you prior to Monza in respect of my services in 1991, 1992, 1993 and subject to Mercedes’ first option, 1994. The driver agreement will be substantially in the form of the agreement produced by you with only mutually agreed amendments.
I understand that PP Sauber Ltd will pay you £150,000 per race for 1991.
I also understand that you require 3.5 million dollars for both 1992 and 1993 and if I or my backers are unable to find this money you will be entitled to retain my services in those years.
Yours sincerely
Michael Schumacher
But there were key changes made to this letter. ‘I will sign the driver agreement’ was changed to ‘I will sign a driver agreement’, and the line about it being substantially the original agreement with only mutually agreed changes was crossed out entirely.
Speaking to MN in 2005, Weber said without the change of ‘the contract’ to ‘a contract’, Schumacher would have had to stay at Jordan. This is why language in contracts is so important and why you must understand what it means before you sign it, much to Eddie Jordan’s chagrin to this day I am sure. This also marked the birth of the infamous “Piranha Club”.
With a lot of people wondering about the constant change of drivers at McLaren’s IndyCar team, Team Principal Zak Brown says that the reason there has been such turmoil relates directly to the actions of one person, Alex Palou. “And so, unfortunately, this Palou situation has kind of unfairly branded us as being difficult and ‘we’re tough on drivers’ when, actually, I think our relationship with our drivers is one of our greatest strengths.”
When Autosport asked Brown for an update of the UK High Court proceedings surrounding its damages claim against Palou, Brown replied: “It’s in legal process and it’s going to go the distance, 100%, and I think it’ll end up probably be sometime late next year.” Read the full story at Autosport.
Look for an extensive legal analysis of George Russell’s disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix next week on Motorsport Prospects. It will cover the legalities of what went on versus the sporting regulations and the issues confronting the FIA in the wake of the disqualification. Look for this special feature this Monday!
Motorsport Sponsorship & Partnership News
Here are the latest motorsport sponsorship deals, partnerships and related analysis that were announced this week
- Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority becomes Official Partner of Formula 1 (F1)
- TAG Heuer Wants to Replace Rolex as the Official Timekeeping Sponsor of Formula 1 (Robb Report)
- McLaren Racing’s Web3 Strategy – 2024 Edition (Sporting Crypto)
- Snaptron To Support Sabré Cook In 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America Campaign (RTD Media)
- How IndyCar’s Scott Dixon Inspired PNC Bank’s ‘Brilliantly Boring’ Slogan (Forbes)
- Blenders Launches New Sunglasses with Oracle Red Bull Racing (Podium Life)
- McLaren Automotive confirms Atlas Copco as ‘Official Smart Tooling Supplier’ (Newspress UK)
- Formula E and UNICEF partnership supports 3.5 million young people in three years (Formula E)
Team & Manufacturer News
Here is a roundup of the latest team news from around the world of motorsport
- Eurasia Set For Asian Le Mans Series Return (Daily Sportscar)
- Signing Lewis Hamilton is just the start of Ferrari’s push to return to its F1 glory days (The Athletic)
- Arrow McLaren, A.J. Foyt Racing counting the costs from July chaos (Racer)
- Conquest adds GTD PRO Ferrari entry for Road America (Racer)
- Era Motorsport enters Porsche Carrera Cup North America with Clarke, Cook, and King (Racer)
- Long-time NASCAR Xfinity Series Team JD Motorsports Files for Bankruptcy (AutoWeek)
- How Enzo Ferrari Created the Greatest Racing Team in Motorsport History (Robb Report)
- Jonathan Wheatley will be Team Principal of the future Audi F1 factory team (Audi)
- BWT Alpine F1 Team announces Oliver Oakes as new Team Principal (Alpine)
- McLaren Formula 1 Team Extends Contract of Team Principal Andrea Stella (McLaren)
- Century Purchases M4 GT3 EVO For 2025 (Daily Sportscar)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
