New F1 plan could be a life-saver

Manama : The proposed plan outlined by Liberty Media, the commercial owners of F1, about the future of F1 2021 onwards, could be a life-saver for teams like Williams F1 team, according to the team’s deputy team principal Claire Williams.

The plan outlined by F1 during a meeting in Bahrain yesterday would save Williams F1 team from a “bleak future”, said Williams. She was speaking during a press conference at Bahrain International Circuit. She said that the meeting held in Bahrain International Circuit was “extremely positive”. One of the proposals was setting a cost cap to reduce the dominance of certain teams that have commanding financial power. A new revenue distribution criteria was also proposed, which could benefit mid-level and smaller teams.

“I think we’ve all hoped for change under our new management and I think today they presented change. I think for a team like ours, based on what they presented, it was an extremely good day for us. From our perspective if we can get these new regulations through, and if they do everything they say they are going to do, then I know that Williams’ future is safe,” she said 

“That’s not to say that we were on the brink, or anywhere close, but with today’s sport and the way it is structured and with the financial disparity between teams then the likelihood of Williams’ survival into the medium and long-term was looking pretty bleak. Everything they presented from revenue redistribution to cost caps is absolutely everything that we want to see from 2021 and beyond, so I’m personally delighted with the proposals that they laid down,”she added.

Commenting further on the cost cap, without revealing the figure, she said, “I think it’s a balanced figure. I think obviously whenever you talk about cost caps there are going to be winners and losers, aren’t there? And it’s about compromise at the end of the day.”

When asked if anyone expressed any reservations about the proposals, Executive Director of McLaren Zak Brown told reporters, “I think we’re going to avoid getting into specifics of what was discussed this morning. That was what was agreed amongst the teams, Chase and Ross. But, as Claire and Guenther have said, I would say overall the impression is very positive and I think the direction they’re taking is the right direction. There’s obviously a lot of details, questions – but we’ll do that behind closed doors,” he said.