Laurent Mekies, formerly employed by Ferrari, joined RB this season.
The RB boss Laurent Mekies has urged teams to “resist temptation” when discussing the new Concorde Agreement for fear of further segregating the grid.
Mekies has cautioned against making any significant changes as all 10 teams are currently discussing the Concorde Agreement, which is due to expire by the end of 2025.
RB boss urges against major Concorde Agreement changes
The contract that governs the operation of the F1 series is known as the Concorde Agreement, named after the Place de la Concorde in Paris where the initial agreement was reached. It involves F1, the FIA, and the teams, and outlines the terms for running the series.
The current agreement, which took effect in 2021, will conclude at the end of the 2025 season. Consequently, the teams, along with F1 and the FIA, are presently formulating strategies for the upcoming version of the agreement, which has been in existence since 1981.
The majority of the information regarding this agreement remains confidential, but a few elements become public knowledge. One notable aspect is that teams are granted a 50% portion of F1’s profits, with certain teams receiving additional bonus payments. Additionally, Ferrari receives an extra 5% share as the sole team to have participated in every season of F1.
However, Mekies has emphasized the importance of minimizing changes back to the way things were in the first draft of the upcoming deal.
“I believe having Formula 1 split into division one and division two is not desirable,” he stated exclusively to PlanetF1.com in Monaco. “It does not benefit anyone, including the fans, and it fails to acknowledge the magnitude of the responsible organizations.”
I believe that we already have enough participants, with over 600 people for two cars. I don’t see any signs that suggest we should become more extreme, and if anything, you might prefer a more competitive field. Perhaps even fewer participants in division one and division two.
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Therefore, my desire is for the tier topic to become irrelevant. I believe it is currently at a satisfactory equilibrium. I would strongly discourage any attempts to revert back, as it would only widen the gap between division one and division two. It is in the best interest of the sport to have ten formidable teams eventually competing against each other.
As for deals within his team, Mekies also suggested to PlanetF1.com that they are in no rush to decide the future of either Yuki Tsuonda or Daniel Ricciardo.
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