According to Scuderia Ferrari, the coronavirus pandemic has hit their finances worse than any other F1 team. As it turns out, the Maranello outfit reported a 30% first-quarter decrease in key income.
Since every race from the Australian GP to the French GP, have pulled out, everyone is simply sitting and waiting anxiously. The good news is that the FIA have tentatively set July’s Austrian Grand Prix as the season opener.
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Additionally, F1 had to chop down its record 22-race calendar to a ‘reasonable’ target of 15-18 GPs. Obviously, the reduction has severely impacted F1’s projected income for the season.
Scuderia Ferrari: the impact
While all teams will receive their individually agreed fees, projections suggest that the income will be much lower than planned. This also includes the special payments to Scuderia Ferrari
Recently, Ferrari announced its first-quarter financial results. Unfortunately, sponsorship, commercial and brand revenue went down €39m (30%) compared to 2019.
Imago
Louis Camilleri
“Formula 1 is undoubtedly the activity that will adversely affect our results in 2020 in the harshest manner,” Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri told investors.
“And also the one that is by far the hardest to predict. The original calendar provided for 22 races. The FIA and the Formula One Group now predict a maximum of 18 races, many without fans.
The bad news doesn’t stop there, as the poor Q1 performance will adversely affect its Q2 numbers. According to Camilleri, the manufacturer’s F1 revenue bore the brunt of the financial impact. To make matters worse, no amount of cost reductions can make up for the loss.
“The hit to revenue essentially goes down to the bottom line, with some minor offsets,” he said. “It’s a big hit. The good news is it’s confined to this year, hopefully.”
Recently, F1 and the FIA submitted a proposed new budget limit to teams ahead of this week’s vote. To that end, Camilleri hopes that the issue sorts itself out “in the near future”.
“It remains our hope that such a ceiling will render F1 more economically sustainable for all participants while ensuring it remains the premier racing championship globally and the source of significant advances in automotive innovation and technology,” he concluded.
