Pirelli will not question its F1 strategy
In the midst of a takeover bid by the Chinese company ChemChina, Pirelli announced that this change in shareholders would not impact the strategy pursued by the group in F1.
At the end of last week, it was announced that the Chinese state-owned company ChemChina had launched a seven billion euro bid to become the majority shareholder of the Italian manufacturer Pirelli.
Nevertheless, the offer also includes provisions for the current CEO, Marco Tronchetti Provera, to increase his share of the company’s capital and remain in charge for at least an additional five years at the helm of Pirelli. This change in capital structure will primarily allow Rosneft, severely impacted by the sanctions related to the Ukrainian crisis, to reduce its stake.
Paul Hembery, the competition director of the Milan-based company, stated that this change in shareholding would not impact its operations: “We have had many different international shareholders over the years. So we have a new major shareholder coming in. The biggest change concerns our activity for industrial trucks, where we will combine our two activities to multiply synergies. Mr. Tronchetti will remain our CEO for another five years. They have bought into the management team we have at Pirelli, and an integral part of our vision and work is also Formula 1. So there is no change from that perspective.”
On the other hand, he also made it known that his company wanted more visibility on the changes that F1 might eventually make in the coming years in order to know if the direction taken by the sport still makes sense within the framework of the company’s strategy: « If we have this visibility and it looks good, and currently we are hearing good suggestions, if the sport allows changes but this seems to be the biggest problem: people seem to agree to disagree instead of having a common viewpoint, which seems to hinder the introduction of very good ideas that make sense. So if we can have these changes and visibility on the future, then we are satisfied with this sport. »
Nothing has really changed for Pirelli since the British executive has been demanding this visibility ever since the manufacturer returned to F1 at the start of the 2011 season. However, this hasn’t stopped them from renewing the experience for a new cycle…
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
