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FIA expects new Concorde Agreement in coming weeks

The FIA says progress has been made in Concorde Agreement talks © Sutton Images

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• Bernie Ecclestone
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• Jean Todt

The FIA is expecting a new Concorde Agreement to be struck in the coming weeks after the teams and Bernie Ecclestone met with FIA president Jean Todt on Monday.

The current Concorde Agreement is set to expire at the end of the year, but preliminary negotiations for a new one have been ongoing this year between Ecclestone and the teams. At Monday's meeting the FIA and Ecclestone put forward new terms for a deal until 2020 and a statement issued by the FIA said that, while progress had been made, a final agreement was still a few weeks off.

"During a constructive meeting, Jean Todt, the FIA President, in co-operation with Bernie Ecclestone, the Commercial Rights Holder, has presented to all F1 Team Principals the new structure of governance, including the new conditions of entry for the Concorde Agreement, starting in 2013," read the statement.

"All the participants in the meeting were encouraged to seek clarification which resulted in a fruitful and helpful debate on how the new structure would operate in 2013 and beyond.

"A further important step has been achieved today to secure the future of the F1 World Championship which should lead to a final settlement to be reached between the FIA, the Commercial Rights Holder and the Teams in the coming weeks."

The Concorde Agreement covers the governance of the sport and the division of Formula One's revenues between the teams and the FIA. The governing body is believed to be seeking a greater share of revenues, but speaking to the Financial Times, Todt said he would not be willing to sacrifice any power.

"For me, the FIA must have a bigger impact, not erosion," he said. "I'm not a dictator trying to control. The contribution and the role of the FIA has to be protected, to be respected."

He added: "It makes me smile when I read that we are going to lose control . . . I will never allow things which are under our responsibility to be dealt with by anybody else."

He also put forward the case for the FIA earning a large share of F1's revenues.

"If you sometimes read the figures, F1 is a $2bn [revenue] business or $1.5bn. The FIA is a non-profit organisation, but we need to run our organisation. We need to encourage the development of the sport, we need to encourage development of action for road safety."

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