Both Ferrari and Williams have expressed concerns regarding Formula 1’s upcoming Concorde Agreement set to come into effect in 2026.
The current agreement struck by Formula One Management (FOM) and the 10 F1 teams is due to expire at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Complicating discussions are a number of factors, from inflation to increased CapEx spending, an evolving Cost Cap structure and the potential inclusion of Andretti as an 11th team.
The latter point has caused much discourse within the F1 paddock. Andretti has been given the green light to join the F1 grid in either 2025 or ’26 and the American outfit is now discussing commercial terms with FOM.
However, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur is concerned that an 11th team will only complicate commercial proceedings for everyone involved.
“It doesn’t matter the format, the organisation and the rules,” Vasseur began to tell select media. “At the end of the day, if you are 11 teams, you are more exposed than if you are 10.
“When you are in a positive situation and the business is going up, I think everybody is positive and optimistic, but I’m not sure that it will stay like this forever.
“We have to really pay attention. On one hand, we are moving to increase the costs at every single meeting.
“We put inflation [into the cost cap] we change the index for the inflation blah, blah, blah, and we increase the CapEx. And now we want to dilute more the incomes.
“It’s not easy also to run a business and to do forecasts when you have this kind of change so often and honestly we are not learning from the past and this is a big issue.”
The current Concorde Agreement includes a $200 million anti-dilution fee that any new team would have to pay to mitigate the losses incurred by the existing 10 teams.
However, the series’ recent financial growth has seen team values increase – with the likes of Alpine and Aston Martin valued at upwards of $1 billion due to recent investments.
Andretti argues that its inclusion will do more than account for any losses incurred by its competitors, but some argue that the anti-dilution fee needs to be increased.
Like Vasseur, Williams team boss James Vowles also alleviated some concerns regarding Andretti’s impact on the financial side of the sport.
“It’s not that there’s no room for an 11th team, it’s just we have to be financially stable to do so,” he added.
“I appreciate we’re increasing things but we are getting ourselves towards financial stability for the first time in forever, really. Let’s get to that point and see where we are.
“So it’s not actually against an 11th team whatsoever at all, and I think Concorde should reflect that.
“Let’s grow at a point where we can grow. I’m not sure that’s today.”
Andretti has expressed a desire to join the series in 2025 if possible, which would mean agreeing commercial terms with FOM within the current Concorde Agreement, whereas a 2026 entry could allow for all sides involved in discussions (FOM, Andretti and the current teams) to reach a compromise that suits all.
