Could This Be Why Mercedes F1 Isn’t Ready to Sign the New Concorde Agreement?

On August 12th, all F1 teams will have to sign the new Concorde agreement that dictates the rules for the coming season. Admittedly, almost all teams are close to ratifying it, but the Mercedes team is acting as a stumbling block.

According to reports from Auto Motor und Sport, the reigning champions are allegedly vying for better conditions and risking a five million dollar bonus.

The FIA have tirelessly been working on the new Concorde agreement since April 2018. Then, in November 2019, they pitched the first draft to the teams and everything looked smooth.

This lasted until the COVID-19 crisis fell unto everyone’s heads and all that effort was wasted.

As a result, so many rules got amended and rewritten to compensate for this season and gave lawyers a field day. There were two major changes with the COVID-19 outbreak. First and foremost, the new rules won’t be in effect until 2022 as opposed to 2021.

Secondly, the FIA presented a modified budget cap, which falls from $175 to $145 – $140 to $135 million. In addition to that, automobile manufacturers have exit clauses if the economic situation worsens.

Mercedes is still standing firm

However, Mercedes is not too thrilled about all this, because they stand to lose the most with the new price regulation. Ferrari has its special rights, while Red Bull has an additional income from Alpha Tauri to fall back on.

According to Team Principal Toto Wolff, Mercedes have done a lot for F1 and they boast of a driver who garnered the most attention worldwide. So, they are perfectly entitled to a similar reward and are not being treated the way they should be.

The Austrian believes that there are still a few things to iron out, on the sporting, commercial, or legal side. This is why he and Mercedes are hesitant to sign the eighth Concorde agreement in history.

However, Liberty Media is starting to become impatient and is unwilling to delay any longer. Interestingly, if Mercedes lets the deadline pass, it does not mean that they could be booted out.

In fact, both parties could still be locked in the negotiation phase.

ALSO READ- Mercedes F1 Boss Toto Wolff Slams Teams for Being Two-Faced Over Concorde (Dis)agreements

SOURCE- Auto Motor und Sport