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< PreviousRenault boss’s astonishing outburst gives fuel to regulatory investigations L uca De Meo, the chief executive of Groupe Renault, in an interview with French daily newspaper L’Equipe, has openly admitted that Formula One is a closed shop or “closed club” as he called it. The comment is doubly embarrassing for Formula 1 Group when it is currently trying to convince a United States Department of Justice investigation that Formula One is not a cartel. It also makes life difficult for Greg Maffei, the Liberty Media chief executive, who is trying to get Liberty’s acquisition of MotoGP and World Superbikes owner Dorna Sports, through the European Union regulatory process. De Meo also took the opportunity to convince L’Equipe journalists that he has not sold the Alpine team to Oliver Oakes’s Hitech GP company and his backers Vladimir Kim and Dmitry Mazepin. He stated he was not a seller as he believed the team would be worth “between $3 and 5 billion” in the future. He said: “I have refused 50 times. I am not going to sell; I am not stupid. I receive calls every 15 days from financiers, eccentrics who want to enter Formula One. They know that after 2026 it will cost much more. If you are given $1 billion today to take the team, they will be able to resell it for double, two years later.” He added: “Being in Formula One is essential for the Alpine brand. It gives credibility to the brand among car enthusiasts. We do not need this money.” De Meo was principally talking to L’Equipe about the decision to close the Renault F1 engine manufacturing facility at Viry-Châtillon after 47 years of operating and nine world championship wins for the engine. De Meo described that decision as “heartbreaking” for him and blamed the bottom line: “I am a manager. I run a listed company, and I have to rethink the Formula One project, to finally win. So I am looking for shortcuts to achieve this. We have become invisible. Another two Renault’s Formula One engine factory at Viry-Chatillon in France. De Meo admits 10 team Formula One is a cartel years like this and the project would completely deflate. We have been on a downward slope for three seasons. We had to shake all that up with a financial logic in mind.” De Meo said that Alpine would now buy a Mercedes-AMG engine for $20 million a year against the cost of producing a Renault engine of around $200 million. He said: “Real enthusiasts are not concerned by this calculation. I am.” He told L’Equipe that Renault’s engine factory at Viry with 350 engineers could not compete with Mercedes- AMG HPP, which employs 900 engineers. He said: “They have test benches that we don’t have. The transition to the hybrid era required powerful investments that were underestimated at the time. It’s not just putting an engine on the bench and saying: ‘Hey boss, I’m doing 415 kW.’” De Meo also revealed that he had previously saved the team from closure: “When I arrived four years ago, it wanted to stop Formula One. If it’s still there, it’s because I saved the thing. But we don’t have the structure to be at the forefront of battery chemistry development, software management, energy recovery.” De Meo claims that whoever manufactures a Formula One car’s engine does not matter anymore: “The sponsors come for a team, not for an engine. The partners sign with McLaren, not with Mercedes under the hood. The Formula One public has changed. It has expanded to include young people and women. This new clientele has a different interpretation of this sport. We support a driver, a colour, a brand. Not an engine. Alpine, given our ranking, is losing bonuses. Sponsors are rare. We have a hole. My shareholders know how to count. Alpine must make money.” De Meo, an Italian, also mocked the French and said his dream of a French team failed because France failed to get behind it: “I wanted to make a French team, the French Ferrari. I put two French drivers in the bucket seats: they crashed into each other. There is not a single French sponsor. Not one! I knocked on many doors in vain.” A leading Formula One sponsorship agent disagreed with De Meo’s assessment and said: “The reason that all the French sponsors have withdrawn and want nothing to do with the team was the decision to sell the title sponsorship to a brand with a pink livery. It has ruined the team’s image.” It is certainly true that nine sponsors ankled the team after BWT became the title sponsor and were never replaced. Hitech GP is expected to complete its purchase of the 72 percent of the team from Renault for around $600 million before the beginning of the 2026 season, when it will be renamed and start to use the Mercedes-AMG engine. Luca de Meo has bowed to the bottom line and closed Renaut’s Formula One engine programme at its Viry-Chatillon. News BusinessF1 10S ophia Florsch, a leading race driver in Formula 3, has seemingly criticised the F1 Academy, the all-women race series, by making allegations of so-called pinkwashing against unknown people. In a widely circulated social media post, Florsch says the F1 Academy is being used as pinkwashing, a phrase which means prescribed persons, or organisations, are superficially sympathetic towards equality or inclusion without really being interested in it. No one has any idea who Florsch was accusing of pinkwashing, but it is not thought to be aimed at F1 Academy managing director, Susie Wolff. Despite that, as soon as the story was published on Autosport magazine’s website, Susie Wolff intervened with Rebecca Clancy, editor in chief of Autosport, and the story was withdrawn within two hours of it being published. Senior insiders at The Motorsport Network, which owns Autosport, were furious about what happened. One said in a very candid statement: “Susie made vague threats about future interviews and access to her husband if the story was not taken down.” That description of events was confirmed by two other staffers at The Motorsport Network. The row has revolved around inaugural champion Marta Garcia, who was crowned champion of the first series last year. Her prize for becoming the 2023 F1 Academy champion was a FRECA single seater drive paid for by the Academy, Pirelli and Tatuus, and she graduated to the All Comers single seater championship in 2024. It didn’t go well, and Garcia was the lowest-placed driver to have started all 20 races – failing to score a point and recording a best finish of 14th. This raised the ire of Sophia Florsch, who has sharply criticised journalists for not doing their job properly and calling out what she calls Sophia Florsch’s views on F1 Academy views are blocked Pinkwashing row as Florsch statement removed from Autosport after intervention by Wolff “pinkwashing.” Floersch, addressing Marta Garcia publicly, said: “I’m so sorry for you, Marta. It looks like they used you in 2023 for short- term marketing. With female drivers, that visibility doesn’t help to keep up with the stopwatch. That’s not a secret. Visibility just helps Formula One, but not female pilots.” In a difficult to understand statement in English, Florsch said: “Have you found one sponsor, Marta? They then drive you onto the sideline. What happened in 2024 was so bad. They point the finger at you, even though they know exactly what it takes. The male talents of the team bosses show how it’s done. Where are all the women’s programmes that were announced in 2021/2022? Why media doesn’t ask the right questions? It’s so sad. Pinkwashing. Let’s make a list of female drivers since 2021 and ask them what happens in racing.” But the original story has now been overshadowed by its removal from the Autosport magazine web site by Clancy. The reason for the withdrawal is unclear, which may have been a problem with the controversial description of pinkwashing, or that F1 Academy boss, Susie Wolff didn’t like it. No one knows. Sophia Florsch, a popular driver in Formula 3. Rebecca Clancy and Susie Wolff, who were under pressure to provide an explanation after Florsch’s comment, were removed from Autosport. News BusinessF1 11M ercedes-AMG insiders have revealed that Toto Wolff was overruled in his bid to sign Max Verstappen to the team during the Summer. Team insiders were adamant that Verstappen was the wrong culture for the team and that made any deal impossible. Behind the scenes at Mercedes- AMG, a very strong culture has been created between the Brackley factory of the team in England, the engine factory at Brixworth, England, the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Ineos HQ in London. Despite the anti-Verstappen feeling inside the organisation, Wolff has revealed that he held talks with Verstappen’s management team during the summer but he admitted they went “nowhere.” Wolff famously called the chances of signing Verstappen a “not zero” possibility in the summer. He added: “What were the odds of that happening? Maybe they were 10 to 1. Still, I didn’t want to give up.” Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of the 2028 season, but it is riddled with get out clauses. Horner said Wolff’s speculation was “just designed to create noise.” He added: “Why on earth would you want to leave this team? Wolff’s time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team, rather than the driver market.” Horner famously quipped that the only Verstappen available for Wolff to sign was called Jos. His last words were: “I can assure you there is no ambiguity about where Max Verstappen will be next year.” The talks between Wolff, Jos Verstappen and personal manager Raymond Vermeulen were real enough. Salary demands were pitched around the $100 million mark. They fizzled out when it became obvious that Max Verstappen would not be joining Mercedes- AMG for 2025. Wolff was effectively forced to end negotiations by his close colleagues at Merecedes-AMG HPP, Mercedes-Benz Group and Ineos, who didn’t want Verstappen, especially at $100 million a year. Wolff has admitted he was taking advantage of the Christian Horner-Fiona Hewitson sex scandal which unsettled Verstappen earlier in the season. Wolff became aware of the break clause in Verstappen’s contract should Helmut Marko leave the team, which became public knowledge after Christian Horner tried to have Marko sacked at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Raymond Vermeulen told Horner that Verstappen was leaving if that happened. Horner relented and Marko was reinstated. It created what was called a “fractious environment at Red Bull Racing” by Autosport magazine. Wolff said: “I thought all through the year that there was a window or that there was a possibility. It wasn’t zero. It’s pretty bumpy ground there still, and not only for performance reasons, but also Insiders says that the culture doesn’t fit the team Mercedes-AMG rule out any future bid for Verstappen because of interpersonal issues of which we’re all aware. I have got on with Jos for all my life. But maybe because we’re a bit similar. And that’s why I thought the door was never completely closed and that was a kind of joint thought.” Autosport reported that Wolff had said he would “do a handstand to secure Verstappen’s services”, but that when he tried, he had hurt his wrist.” But the reality was and remains that it was Wolff’s colleagues who put a stop to the negotiations. Wolff is seemingly unperturbed and believes they might be persuadable in the future: “What I like with Max, Raymond and Jos is that we talk straight. We don’t need to push each other. We have been in this too long; we’ve taken the decision for drivers for next year. This is what our full effort is going into. What I enjoyed in our conversations is there is never a hidden agenda. That doesn’t close the door on Max being with us in 2026 or beyond, because we want to still keep all the options open in the same way he does. Somehow, I have that feeling [that] Mercedes and Verstappen’s paths will cross. But I don’t know when that could be. Whether it’s in 2026, whether it’s three years later, I don’t know yet.” His colleagues are adamant it will be “never.” Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen tried to put Max Verstappen in a Mercedes-AMG car in 2026, but internal forces at Mercedes worked against them. It’s unlikely that Verstappen will ever drive for the team called Mercedes – the cultures do not fit. News BusinessF1 12I t has emerged that Lewis Hamilton was the catalyst for the 10-year $1 billion deal between Formula 1 Group (F1G) and Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH). It came after Hamilton met personally with LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and “sold” Formula One to him. After that, Greg Maffei and Stefano Domenicali negotiated a multi brand deal that will principally see Tag-Heuer becoming the official timer of the sport, and Moet et Chandon, the official champagne and the Louis Vuitton brand, in an all- embracing sponsorship role. The deal is said to be worth $93 million a year, but with activation add-ons it amounts to a ten-year deal worth $1 billion, the biggest straight sponsorship deal in sports history. It starts in 2025 and will run to 2034. The only deals that come close are Michael Jordan’s with Nike that started in 1984, reportedly earning Jordan over $1.3 billion since in add on licensing deals. LeBron James signed a lifetime deal with Nike in 2015, estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Cristiano Ronaldo and Nike also have a lifetime deal, which will eventually exceed $1 billion. Tiger Woods’ ongoing relationship with Nike is thought to have earned him $1.4 billion during his career. The F1G-LVMH deal was first reported by the Coronet website in July and was confirmed in an announcement in Paris in October. Coronet has reported the value of the deal being $1.5 billion overall, but that is considered fanciful. Tag Heuer will replace Rolex as the official timepiece of Formula One, and Moet et Chandon will be the official champagne. Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Group, said: “The people, the quest for excellence and the passion for innovation are at the heart of all of this, and every detail counts on the path to success. It’s the incessant search to break boundaries that inspires our vision.” Stefano Domenicali, president of F1G, added: “The strength and breadth of LVMH makes it the perfect partner for us to work with. This is a landmark partnership for both companies, and I would like to thank Bernard and Frédéric Arnault for their vision.” See Insight story ‘Lewis Hamilton shows how valuable he is to Formula One’ which starts on page 50 A drian Hallmark, the new chief executive of Aston Martin Lagonda, has had a horrible first two months in office. Barely a month after he arrived, he announced a profits warning, and a month later has revealed a terrible set of figures, which he has attempted to put the best spin on. The only good news is that the statutory loss has been reduced. But the cash outflow tells the real story and it is as bad as it could be. The company is burning through cash at more than $1.3 million a day and the overall debt figure has risen by 50 percent in a year. Previous targets on margins, operating profits and cashflow have not been met. Hallmark has reiterated his warning that performance targets of the previous management for 2024 were too ambitious and further distressed by supply of vital parts from Germany, where two key suppliers have filed for bankruptcy. Sales of cars in China have also collapsed along with sales of the Aston Martin DBX SUV, even of the latest refreshed model. To try and rectify the situation, Hallmark has reduced production targets to 6,000 cars a year. As a result of all the bad news, the value of the company on the London stock market hovers just above a billion dollars, 70 percent below the amount of new capital injected by Stroll’s Yewtree consortium, Saudi Arabi’s Public Investment Fund, Geely Group and Mercedes-Benz in the past four years. All four organisations have lost substantial amounts of money and are nervously watching the cash outflow figures. In the latest results for July to September 2024, Aston Martin Lagonda delivered 1,641 vehicles to dealers, 14 percent higher than in the same quarter last year, bringing in gains of $508 million and losses of $15.5 million. For the first nine months of the year (Jan to Sept), deliveries were down 17 percent at 3,639 cars, and sales lower at $1.3 billion, with losses of just under $300 million. According to the London Times newspaper, Aston Martin has seen cash flow out of the door at a rate of $1.8 million a day for the first nine months of the year, reduced to $1.3 million a day in the last quarter. Cash on hand of $321 million is probably enough to see the company through the next year, but total debt now stands at $1.55 billion, most of it long term. The previous target of being cashflow positive by the end of the ear has been abandoned. Despite all the bad news, Adrian Hallmark remains relatively positive, at least in his public statements. He said: “We are on track to meet our revised full-year 2024 guidance.” See Insight story ‘Heading for disaster’ which starts on page 32 Rolex is a casualty after 11 years as global partner Aston Martin losing £1m a day as it misses all targets - $511m cash gone in nine months Hamilton steers LVMH to sport’s biggest ever sponsorship deal Aston Martin Lagonda burns through half a billion dollars in 39 weeks Stefano Domenicali, Greg Maffei, Bernard Arnault and Frédéric Arnault sign the deal in Paris. Lewis Hamilton instigated the LVMH deal. Adrian Hallmark is happy with his own forecast but not those of the previous management News BusinessF1 13Offers that may have topped $1 million have been turned down Red Bull up offer to Hewitson to settle sexual harassment claims I nside sources at Red Bull GmbH have indicated that the company is ready to top up the cash offer to Fiona Hewitson, Christian Horner’s former PA, who has accused the team principal of sexual harassment. Horner has already offered Hewitson $650,000 but has declined exhortations from his friends to increase his offer. Now Red Bull GmbH itself is said it is prepared to chip in to finally end the matter. But so far, Hewitson and her lawyers have turned Bad actor gets into two accounts before getting caught FIA hacked by phishing expert who takes undisclosed confidential data A bad actor has got into the unnamed email accounts of two senior officials of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA). The FIA have denied that one of the accounts was that of President Ben Sulayem himself, but have steadfastly refused to identify the two email accounts that were hacked. Recent incidents pursuant to attacks have led to the unauthorised access to personal data contained in two email accounts belonging to the FIA, and it is clear that data has been stolen. The FIA has refused to say what, if any, information has leaked out. The FIA took all actions to rectify the issues, notably in cutting the “illegitimate access” once it became aware, and it has notified both the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, the French data protection regulator, and the Préposé Fédéral à la Protection des Données et à la Transparence, the Swiss data protection regulator. The FIA said in a statement that: “it regrets any concern caused to the affected individuals.” The statement added: “We take our data protection and information security obligations very seriously and continuously review our systems to ensure they are robust, in the context of evolving cyber- criminality.” But it appears clear that the FIA’s security was not good enough and it was not using the latest cyber security software that is available, and this has now been installed. The FIA has put other unspecified additional security measures in place to protect against any future attacks. President Ben Sulayem’s email account was not hacked according to the FIA. down all offers, believed to be around the million-dollar mark, with $650,000 of that coming from Horner personally and $350,000 from Red Bull GmbH. According to the Red Bull insider, when the latest offer was made, Hewitson responded on the lines of ‘Christian had destroyed her, and she wanted revenge’. Hewitson is still an employee of Red Bull Racing and suspended from work on full pay, and that situation shows no sign of changing. Although officially Red Bull GmbH has said the matter is over, news websites outside of Britain have reported that the matter is not concluded, but British media outlets are precluded from writing what the websites outside the UK are writing. There is little doubt that Hewitson, who is represented by some very high-powered lawyers, is determined to pursue her case by whatever methods she chooses. There is no indication who is funding her legal fees, which are already thought to have exceeded $150,000, although this is a best guess estimate and has not been confirmed. Christian Horner is believed to have spent twice that so far on legal and adviser’s fees. Fiona Hewitson and Christian Horner are racking up legal fees in their ongoing battle. News BusinessF1 14As Monaco gets more respectable, old lags may be sent packing Prince Albert looks at kicking ‘crooks’ out of Monaco P rince Albert, the ruler of Monaco, is looking at ways he can rid Monte Carlo of the undesirables who have taken up residence over the years. As more and more respectable people move in, including large numbers of the Formula One community, pressure on real estate is also increasing. The prince is desperate to please the Formula One people who have moved into Monaco, which, despite all the expansion, is still a picturesque principality nestled along the French Riviera. But now the influx of respectable people including Formula One luminaries such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Toto Wolff, are bridling at having to mix with people they see as villains. But Monaco has long been a haven for some people with shady reputations who have moved in over the years, although most residents, like Ratcliffe and Wolff, are legitimate businesspeople. It is an attractive destination for wealthy people seeking tax advantages and a luxurious lifestyle but it has also attracted less than scrupulous individuals, including criminals, tax evaders, and financial manipulators, who call it home. Monaco has become a refuge for those wishing to avoid the scrutiny of tax authorities and provided a cover to shield dubiously sourced money. The situation is becoming more urgent as Monaco is on The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) so called ‘grey list’. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1989 to develop policies aimed at combatting money laundering, terrorist financing, and other threats to the integrity of the global financial system. It has set international standards, known as the FATF Recommendations, to promote legal, regulatory, and operational measures that countries should implement. The FATF monitors countries’ compliance with these standards and identifies jurisdictions with weaker measures against financial crimes, placing them on either the ‘grey list’ or the ‘blacklist’. Countries such as Monaco, that are on the ‘grey list’, must improve their controls to avoid economic consequences, hence the need to start kicking out anyone who might have not paid the proper taxes in their countries of birth. Monaco’s tax laws are and famously lenient anyway, offering a zero personal income tax and all its tax income comes from local tax on sales of goods. Every transaction, including food, attracts a tax charge. Money laundering is also another key concern. The influx of wealth from countries with high levels of corruption has made it difficult for authorities to monitor the origins of the money flowing through its banks. Despite efforts to strengthen anti- money laundering regulations, Monaco’s reliance on wealthy foreigners mean that enforcement is inconsistent. Crooks living in Monaco have access to sophisticated legal teams that navigate the system in their favour. Monaco’s banking sector offers a high level of confidentiality, which, while attractive to legitimate clients seeking privacy, can also serve as a veil for those involved in other activities. There has recently been a financial scandal involving money laundering connected to the Italian mafia, and some bankers in the principality were convicted for helping to launder the money, receiving suspended prison sentences and fines. This case underscores Prince Albert’s growing determination to focus on financial oversight. Prince Albert feels he can no longer ignore the dubious individuals who inhabit Monaco and may start kicking them out soon, as he can no longer afford Monaco’s association with criminals. The question remains whether Monaco will take stronger steps to combat its reputation as a haven for financial crooks or whether certain people will remain in residence unaffected. One resident who has used Monaco to shield tax is British entrepreneur, Sir Philip Green, a man with a very poor reputation. He switched ownership of all his British companies to his wife, Lady Tina Green, who was resident in Monaco and sent dividends totalling more than $2 billion to her tax free, saving over $800 million in British taxes. Simultaneously they starved their company’s pension funds of money leading to shortfalls. It was all barely legal. Sir Philip Green and Lady Green used an ingenious tax dodge to save $800 million in British taxes on company dividends. They were both resident in different countries, he in Britain and she in Monaco. Eventually all their companies went into receivership, owing pension funds hundreds of millions of dollars. They are photographed with their daughter Chloe Green before the scandal happened at the Princess Grace Foundation Awards USA Gala Dinner at the Palace of Monaco on 5th September 2015. They are no longer welcome at such events, but still live in Monaco. News BusinessF1 15Your monthly sample subscription has run out! TO KEEP READING, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE ON OUR WEBSITE TO BECOME A MEMBER •12 MONTHLY ISSUES •DIGITAL ACCESS •A FREE BOOK SUBSCRIBE NOW AND RECEIVE TOM RUBYTHONNext >