Concorde Agreements signed and Pirelli confirmed

Pirelli was waiting for confirmation of its engagement in Formula 1 for next year, with its contract ending at the end of the current year, and the Italian manufacturer was confirmed in its role as the sole tire supplier following the World Motor Sport Council meeting.

« In order to ensure the transition period and analyze the contracts already made by FOM and the teams with Pirelli, the CMSA confirmed today that Pirelli could continue to supply tires to the participants of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, provided they meet FIA’s technical and safety standards. »

Here is how the FIA’s statement issued yesterday ends, confirming Pirelli in its role as manufacturer for at least the next season of the F1 World Championship. However, the duration of the new contract is not known. The absence of this detail leaves the possibility for the return of another manufacturer in the more or less near future. Michelin, in particular, has expressed its interest.

The Concorde Agreements finally signed

The Concorde Agreements govern the world of F1 in all its aspects and must be ratified by the teams, the FIA, and the commercial rights holder CVC. These agreements have finally been signed by the FIA with its President Jean Todt, thereby securing the future of F1 for the next seven seasons.

One will also notice from reading today’s FIA communiqué that the management of tire tender processes has been modified with these new agreements in favor of the FIA, which will now have the prerogative to appoint tire suppliers.

« One of the notable aspects of the new 2013 Concorde Agreements is the new tender procedure for the designation of exclusive suppliers for tires and fuels for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. With this new procedure, it is established that the FIA will be the body in charge of conducting the tender process. The commercial rights holder will be authorized to conduct commercial negotiations with potential suppliers, while the exclusive supplier will be officially appointed by the CMSA. »

After months of discussions, the two major entities leading F1 have agreed on the structure that will govern F1 for the next seven seasons. However, the statement released by the FIA specifies that now that the agreement is operational, the different parties will work to conclude a multi-party Concorde agreement.

This therefore means that the agreement announced today concerns the financial distribution that will now exist between the FOM and the FIA. The latter indeed wishes to benefit from additional financial resources from F1 to help fund the rest of its operations, particularly in its road safety campaigns. It seems that it has achieved its goals.

This announcement is therefore timely for Jean Todt as it is a major achievement he can credit to himself at a time when he has launched his campaign to be re-elected as head of the Federation. His opponent, David Ward, indeed acknowledges this but calls for more transparency regarding the precise use of these new revenues: « The final conclusion of the Concorde Agreement negotiations is a very good thing for the FIA. It is a great achievement by Jean Todt, and I congratulate him. The question now is how the new Concorde resources will be used. The answer should be in investments for the development of the motorsport base. In my program, I proposed using all revenues beyond the F1 championship regulatory costs for investments in motorsport safety, sustainable development, solidarity funding of development programs for National Sporting Authorities, and for the training of officials and volunteers. »

But for the teams, these agreements do not necessarily change the situation since they all have, with the notable exception of Marussia, a commercial agreement with Bernie Ecclestone. We will see when, and if, a new Concorde Agreement involving all the teams will take effect and allow all teams to benefit from financial equity.