F1 in 2021: ‘new chapter’ is a step closer after London meeting

Formula 1 has taken a “step closer” to beginning a “new chapter” in the motor sport’s history.

A year ago in Bahrain F1’s owners Liberty Media first presented its “blueprint for the future” which would see a number of proposed changes introduced for the 2021 season.

Sky Sports explains that the current Concorde Agreement - which “governs the sport and sets out the commercial terms on which teams compete” - expires at the end of the 2020 season and Liberty Media “want to make the sport more competitive and introduce a more even-handed revenue structure”.

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F1 bosses and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, presented the vision for F1’s future at a meeting held in London on Tuesday. Included in the vision are new rules, governance structure, revenue distribution strategy and cost controls.

The BBC reported on Monday that the introduction of a budget cap, restructured revenue distribution and new racing regulations will “try to make F1 more competitive”. Liberty Media also wants to “stop F1 being a two-tier sport” where the big three - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - have a “huge performance advantage over the rest”.

New chapter

Following the meeting in London, F1 said that ultimately it wants to “create great action and bring the cars closer together, make the drivers the heroes and make the business more sustainable”.

A statement published on F1.com said: “In just over two years’ time, F1 is aiming to begin a new chapter in its illustrious history. And on Tuesday in London, the championship took a step closer to making that happen from 2021 onwards.

“Over the past months, F1 bosses and the FIA have been working on a framework that includes new technical and sporting regulations, power unit rules, costs, governance and revenue distribution and this was presented on Tuesday.

“The day opened with a meeting of the Strategy Group and was followed by a meeting of the F1 Commission, bringing together all of the sport’s stakeholders to see how the vision has evolved almost a year on from the presentation F1 made to the FIA and teams in Bahrain last year.”

Positive meetings

In the past few weeks the McLaren and Red Bull teams both stated that they could quit F1 if the 2021 changes did not improve the sport.

Racefans.net’s Dieter Rencken reports that sources with knowledge of the London meetings said the presentations were “comprehensive and well received by the respective audiences, with the mood in the sessions being described as positive”.

A number of follow-up meetings will now take place before the end of June to “formalise the post-2020 landscape”, said Racefans.net.

2021 concept cars

In September last year the designs for three 2021 concept cars were unveiled at a presentation held before the Singapore GP.

F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn said the three concepts will focus on improving racing and look good as well. Describing the designs as “sensational”, Brawn wants the new cars to inspire the younger generation of F1 fans.

He said last September: “When we started looking at the 2021 car, the primary objective was to enable the cars to race well together. What we established early on in our research is the cars we have now are very bad in following each other.

“We want a car that is inspiring. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and the car should look sensational.”