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WHO IS FUNDING FIONA…TOTO, ZAK, JOS, HELMUT OR ADRIAN? LUCKY MAN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF EDDIE JORDAN ROGER GOODELL: UNDERSTANDING THE NFL’S SUCCESS STORY RUSSELL KING WAS FORMULA ONE’S BIGGEST EVER CROOK FORMULA ONE’S BUSINESS MAGAZINE SINGLE COPY US $32 • UK£25 • €30 ANNUALLY US$260 • UK£205 • € 240 July 2025 Vol 10 Issue 1 Ben Sulayem adopts the Trump playbook ...and makes himself a serious enemy Ben Sulayem adopts the Trump playbook ...and makes himself a serious enemy Serious rift at the FIA sparks civil warBusinessF1 3 TM REGULAR FEATURES Credits 4 • Letters to the Editor 4 • People Index 6 • Paddock Patter 7 • News 8 - 24 • Premature Facts 25 • Notes & Observations 26 • Lewis Webster 27 • Letter From America 28 • Motor Matters 29 • Jottings 98 COVER STORY 56 INSIGHT MOTORING Formula One’s biggest crook Understanding NFL’s succes Russell King was the biggest fraudster event to penetrate the world of Formula One. Aided and abetted by supposedly respectable solicitor, John Byfield, the notorious duo took over the man- agement contract of Jenson Button from David Robertson, who had represented him since his youth. It turned out to be a nightmare for Button who lost $20 million from his dealings with King and Byfield. Greg Maffei, the now departed chief executive of Liberty Media, always wanted to be Roger Good- ell, the Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). Or rather, he has always wanted Formula One to be the NFL, the most successful sports league in the world. 52 Formula One has a real problem with global warming and the coming ban on piston driven engines. So far there is no real solution to that and the worst case is that the sport becomes extinct after 2035. INTERVIEWBOOK EXTRACT What they want is him, lots of him. 48 If any evidence is needed of the power of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, it is the transformation of Guenther Steiner from a boring Austro-Italian technocrat into a media celebrity. Abu Dhabi rides to McLaren’s rescue 38 McLaren Automotive lost $270,583 on every car it sold in 2023. The figures for 2024, when they are released, may be even worse. The company almost broke the Bahrain sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat. Now the Abu Dhabi government is riding to the rescue to help fulfil its own car making ambitions. Ben Sulayem adopts the Trump playbook Reality can be an illusion 88 Rowan Atkinson, the English comic actor, has revealed the staggering costs of refurbishing a relatively new, but now classic, 2005 Rolls-Royce Phantom. He gives a rare insight into the tough financial reality of restoring a late model classic car with a pricey parts catalogue. 92 72 Who Is Funding Fiona? 30 Fiona Hewitson is in the middle of a battle with her former boss at Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner. Is it Toto, Jos, Helmut, Adrian or Zak? OBITUARY 38 The luckiest man in Formula One was undoubtedly Eddie Jordan. When all else failed he relied on that luck to get him out of scrape after scrape, many of his own making. And when the luck of the Irish failed him, he turned on the charm, which never seemed to fail him. But his luck ran out in March when he lost a bat- tle against cancer 10 days short of his 77th birthday. Eddie Jordan President Ben Sulayem has broken the golden rule of politics; “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” and now two of his former colleagues, David Richards and Robert Reid have been excluded from the FIA and are no longer the close allies of the president they once were. For the first time in modern history there is deep divide within the FIA which others may seek to take advantage of...4 BusinessF1 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tom Rubython CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Thomas Gibson, Oliver Edwards, Jo Maxwell, Lewis Webster GRAPHIC DESIGNER Emily Morgan EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Emma Blakey CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Anna Grzesik WEB EDITOR Brad Dias CHIEF STATISTICIAN David Hayhoe VICE PRESIDENT - LOGISTICS David Peett EDITORS AT LARGE George Roberts, Andrew Frankl, Stefan Johansson GLOBAL AMBASSADOR Maprang Suwanbubpa FINANCE MANAGER Alex Rogers SUBSCRIPTIONS CO-ORDINATORS Daisy Macedward, Roger Smith BusinessF1 Magazine is published by BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd, Billing Wharf, The Causeway, Cogenhoe, Northampton NN7 1NH, United Kingdom Tel: 00 44 (0) 1604 698881/2 Email: editor@businessf1magazine.com Website: www.businessf1magazine.com July 2025 Volume 10 (Issue 1) BusinessF1 is published on the last Friday of every month. Title is copyright of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. F1 element is a recognised trademark of Formula One Licensing BV. Printed in Europe NEXT PUBLICATION DATE: The August 2025 issue of BusinessF1 Magazine is published on Friday 25th June 2025. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for 12 months (12 issues) at a cost of US$280, UK£220 and €260 delivered anywhere in the world at no extra charge. Subscriptions can be ordered at www.businessf1magazine.com EDITORIAL COPYRIGHT: The contents of this magazine, both words and statistics, are strictly copyright and the intellectual property of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. Copying or reproduction may only be carried out with the written permission of the Publishers, which will normally not be withheld on payment of an agreed fee. ARTICLE REPRINTS: Many articles published in BusinessF1 Magazine are available as re- prints by prior arrangement with the Publishers. Normal minimum run for reprints is 100 but smaller quantities can be accommodated. Please contact David Peett - Vice President of Logistics. Not see his like again Dear Tom , Formula One won’t see the likes of Eddie ever again where a guy with a love for racing can hustle his way into the sport and end up winning races. More important than race wins though, he won hearts. I will never forget how his face would always light up whenever he saw a Jordan GP jacket, flag or cap as we travelled the world together years after the team had been sold. His greatest achievements were Mikki, Zoe, Kyle and Zak. His incredible four kids who share his spirit. His wife Marie is one of the strongest, most wonderful women I have ever met. The four years we spent together hosting F1 on the BBC were greatest of my career. Wing-walking, scooter riding, car driving madness that I know he loved deeply. His incredible spirit and love of life lives on in me, and my children who were lucky enough to meet him and hear all about him. Eddie lit up a room whenever he entered it. That is a lesson for us all - be the light in the room. I was lucky enough to share one final, cherished meal with him and his boys a few months ago. It was special. We talked about me doing one final interview with him. Sadly that will never happen. Yours, Jake Humphrey High Performance Unit B South Avenue Studios, 7 South Avenue, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3EL United Kingdom The editor replies: All these things are true, Eddie was a unique character in a paddock full of unique characters, but he was just a little more unique than the rest. He didn’t like me but despite that he always spoke to me and we had some fun and that was his appeal. A gaping hole Dear Tom, Eddie was one of the most charismatic figures I have ever met and I had the privilege of learning from whilst working for him as he grew his racing organisation from very humble beginnings. In fact, I think I was his second ever hire. Eddie was the master deal maker and there is much that I gleaned from Eddie which has stood me in good stead throughout my career. He was the ultimate risk- taker (an anomaly when you recall that he trained in banking) and that mindset enabled him to graduate quickly from Formula 3 to Formula 3000 and to Formula One, there are very few others who would have contemplated that speed of growth yet alone accomplished it as well as Eddie did My fondest memories are of Eddie with drumsticks in hand, leading the party celebrations where the whole Formula 3 paddock was invited at the annual June European Formula 3 event and a memorable time was had by all. To Marie, EJ’s wonderful wife, (a real unsung hero) and to the whole of the Jordan family, you are blessed to be able to call yourself Jordans and my thoughts are with you all, he leaves a gaping hole. Yours, Jim Wright The Barn West Street Marlow, SL7 2BS United Kingdom The editor replies: Everyone knows Eddie had his faults and there are a few people whose wallets are lighter after their dealing with Eddie, but, unlike Tom Walkinshaw, he was not crooked just sharp and always aware of the main chance. God bless and rest in peace EJ Dear Tom, As the eulogies pour in for the sad departure of a great and larger than life man, who gave so much to Formula One, I wanted to highlight the extraordinary skill, judgment, wisdom, and super canny financial brilliance of Eddie right hand man Richard O’Driscoll , without whom there would have been no Jordan Grand Prix, and no Eddie Jordan. I knew Richard and Eddie well having worked with them on the corporate finance front for some time. Richard was in my view the best Formula One team finance director that I have ever encountered. His fastidious micro and macro management of every cent was true wizardry. His property based financial investment programme for Eddie was a towering success. Yours, Nicky Samengo-Turner 30 Harris Close Lambourn Hungerford RG17 8YX United Kingdom The editor replies: Richard was fastidious in looking after Eddie’s financial interests but maybe should have been a little more fastidious on the money that should have gone into Jordan Grand Prix’s bank accounts rather than those of Eddie’s personal accounts and accounts controlled by his companies in Ireland. Eddie nickel and dimed the team whilst enriching himself ultimately causing its demise but he was not alone in that, witness the antics of Alain Prost and Tom Walkinshaw who carried on the same sort of manoeuvres when he was a team principal in the same era. © Planet F1!!!"#$%&'()*+,-+./"0&1 !"#$%&'"(")* !"#$%&'(%#)%*"#+#,-./.. 010#23(%4#+#01-#25&6&4 8)%8*"&9%5$ !"#73'8I*9::59#+#,;</.. =>=#23(%4#+#==<#25&6&4 *"C"D&B$CB85D !"#?%'%@#A3'B9:@#+#,-./.. 0C=#23(%4#+#C..#25&6&4 !"#$%&'()*#((+$ ,-.$,-./'01$2$ .#13)*4 FORMULA 1: CAR BY CAR 2000–09 By Peter Higham • £60 304 pages • 350 colour photos Year-by-year treatment explores each Formula 1 season in fascinating depth, showing every type of car that raced complete with supporting detail including technical specifics and racing highs and lows.Formula 1, driving for teams such as Ferrari and McLaren and winning the prestigious Le Mans 24 hour race for Porsche. He spent over 30 years racing at the highest levels of Motorsport where he continuously tried to perfect the craft of driving a race car at the limits of it’s performance. In parallel he always had a strong interest in Art and Design, but it wasn’t until his close friend and driver colleague Elio De Angelis was killed in a racing accident in 1986 that he decided to pick up a canvas and a brush to paint something in his honor. 34 years later this has evolved into a new way of life and he now spends the same time and focus to perfect the craft of being an Artist as he used to when he was racing, creating new paintings and designs from his studio in Santa Monica, California. stefanjohanssonofficial facebook.com/SJohanssonF1 stefanjohansson.art/Tom Rubython Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Letter 77 BusinessF1 The FIA is a democracy not a dictatorship especially as President Ben Sulayem was elected on a manifesto of “transparency”. Well, transparency is not spelt NDA. I f the stories were indeed true, (and it is hard for me to believe that they were) President Ben Sulayem, required members of the FIA World Motorsport Council to sign what amounts to a Non- Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before being allowed to attend meetings. By all accounts David Richards, Robert Reid, George Silbermann of the United States and Wayne Christie of New Zealand all refused the sign the NDAs on principle. I found it hard to believe that they were the only ones and that Sheikh Abdulla Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Manuel Avino of Spain, Daniel Coen of Costa Rica, Fabiana Ecclestone of Brazil, Lung-Nien Lee of Singapore, Anna Nordkvist of Sweden, Rodrigo Rocha of Mozambique, Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia, Eric Barrabino of Monaco, Garry Connelly of Australia, Tom Kristensen of Denmark, Andrew Mallalieu of Barbados, Amina Mohamed of Kenya, Rado Raspet of Slovenia, Jan Stovicek of the Czech Republic, Serkan Yazici of Turkey, Tao Zhang of China, Burcu Çetinkaya of FIA Women in Motorsport, Stefano Domenicali of F1G, Oliver Schmerold and Frédéric Vasseur of the FIA Manufacturers’ Committee, Ronan Morgan of the International Karting Commission, all agreed to sign it. It is frankly appalling that they were asked to sign it and it set a bad precedent. World Motorsport Council members are for the most part, elected members. It is perfectly reasonable for employees and contractors of the FIA to be required to signs NDAs but it is wholly unacceptable for members of the governing body, which is effectively what the world council is, to be even asked to sign an NDA let along be excluded from meetings. There is a vast difference between an employee of the FIA and an elected member of the FIA. Excluding David Richards and Robert Reid, George Silberman and Wayne Christie from the FIA World Council meeting was unacceptable and, in my opinion, it casts doubt on any decision taken at that meeting. The President should and must tear up all these NDAs, for his own good as well. For the most part, one way or anther, the 28 members of the FIA World Motorsport Council are elected. They are not creatures of the President and if anything, are there to hold the President and members of his executive to account. David Richards, Chairman of Motorsport UK, is elected by his members to represent its interests at the World Motorsport Council and more widely the interests of British motorsport participants. He is not elected to kow tow to the President. The FIA is a democracy not a dictatorship especially as President Ben Sulayem was elected on a manifesto of “transparency”. Well transparency is not spelt NDA. David Richards and Robert Reid did more than anyone, save for Bernie Ecclestone, to get President Ben Sulayem elected. Both Richards and Reid were two of the main reasons he was elected. Richards even ditched the British candidate Graham Stoker to vote for President Ben Sulayem and influenced others to do so. Now Richards and Reid believe that the promises the President made during his election campaign have all been broken. David Richards has since criticized Ben Sulayem’s leadership style, that the authority of the audit and ethics committees has been severely limited. I have no idea if these claims are true but Richards has the right to bring them up and the President has no right to try and silence critics. This magazine has been a supporter of President Ben Sulayem in his three years in power. But we are not nodding donkeys and will not support him over this. The NDAs are an affront to democracy and severely limit journalist’s ability to report what is going on in the governance of motorsport. It is the worst kind of censorship and cannot be stood for. Eddie Jordan had many qualities, most notably an inability to bear a grudge. Whatever I wrote about Eddie and his nefarious activities (which was often) we never fell out although I doubt he liked me very much. He was always civil, which cannot be said for every member of the paddock community after they read something they don’t like. Everyone has an Eddie Jordan story. Mine is when he attempted a right hook on me at a reception at the RAC Club in London which was caught beautifully by Graham Fudger on camera. In the event Eddie thought better of it at the last moment and pulled back just before he connected with my chin, but only because Bernie Ecclestone and the late Tom Wheatcroft were looking on and nodding disapprovingly (or perhaps approvingly). The 28 members are not creatures of the President Eddie’s many qualitiesNews BusinessF1 8 Team set to lose another half dozen people before the end of 2025 R ed Bull Racing (RBR) is bracing itself for at least half a dozen top ranking executives and technical staff to announce they are leaving the team before the end of 2025. They follow the exit of five of the team’s top five senior managers over the past three years. First to go was Jayne Poole, Chief Operating Officer, a 17-year veteran; then Rob Marshall Chief Engineering Officer, an 18-year veteran; then Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, an 18-year veteran; then Jonathan Wheatley, Sporting Director, a 19-year veteran and finally and Will Courtenay, Head of Strategy, a 19-year veteran. The five departures mean the very heart of the team has been ripped out. Made worse by the fact that all five are eyeing up other Red Bull Racing personnel they want to recruit. Audi and Ferrari are seen as an attractive destinations because of the low tax regimes in Switzerland and Italy for British non-doms. Top Formula One engineers, the best of which can earn salaries of up to $2 million a year, can virtually keep their entire salaries, free of tax, in either country, provided they stay abroad for three years. It is a tempting carrot for even the most loyal of staff. Horner is disadvantaged because Jayne Poole knows all of their salaries and contractual details and is probably willing to share those details with her ex-colleagues, Marshall, Newey, Wheatley and Courtenay if they were to ask. Horner is said to be particularly worried about defections to Audi in 2026, although Jonathan Wheatley is contractually forbidden to recruit Red Bull personnel until 2026. But the clause in his contract may not be enforceable under Swiss law. The diminishing band of insiders at RBR have been talking openly of the problems the team faces retaining key staff. The only member of the team who has not had any offers is said to be Pierre Waché, and that, as Red Bull critics say is because “no one actually rates him.” That may, or may, not be true but it is said by the same people that Christian Horner now dreads every knock on his office door - that it is some key staffer come to hand in his resignation and the inevitable eight months gardening leave on full pay. Despite what he has always called a “deep bench” of talent, Horner has openly admitted he faces problems because of the financial constraints imposed by the cost cap which makes it difficult to retain high-profile staff. He admits the team cannot offer competitive salaries whilst it is paying staffers who have already left for eight months gardening leave. He said: “You’ve got to look at bang for buck, and it forces you to make some really tough decisions.” A key time is coming up before the summer break as it means any resigning team member will have the whole summer off on full pay and then be able to take up to the New Year of 2026 off at Red Bull’s expense enabling them to spend most of December in the Caribbean. Horner is said to be expecting a dozen resignations over this period of time and has alerted his lawyers to come to Milton Keynes to “handle” departures. When team members resign they are not obliged to reveal where they are going which means non-compete clauses in contracts can be more easily circumvented. One HR expert told BusinessF1 : “They are virtually unenforceable anyway.” Horner braces for more top level exits RED BULL RACING PERSONNEL RUSH FOR THE EXIT NameTitleYears of service Exit date Destination Jayne Poole Chief Operating Officer17 yearsMarch 2022Mercedes-AMG Adrian Newey Chief Technical Officer18 yearsMay 2024Aston Martin Racing Rob Marshall Chief Engineering Officer18 yearsMay 2023McLaren Racing Jonathan WheatleySporting Director19 yearsNov 2024Audi/Sauber Will CourtenayHead of Strategy19 yearsNov 2024McLaren Racing Above left to right: Ben Waterhouse, Head of Performance Engineering, Hannah Schmitz, Principal Strategy Engineer Pierre Waché, Technical Director and Paul Monaghan, Chief Engineer are the talent left at Red Bull Racing’s severely depleted technical team. Will their undoubted skills be enough to keep the team at the top? Christian Horner is facing a summer exodus of key staff from Red Bull Racing. Right: Jayne Poole, Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley and Will CourtenayA yao Komatsu, Team Principal of Haas F1, has banned chocolate from the team. He has exercised a complete ban on chocolate and chocolate laced products being consumed by Haas team members. Any food containing chocolate is now completely banned from the motorhome, pit garage and the hotel rooms of travelling Haas team members. Any chocolate found on staffers will apparently be a disciplinary issue. Komatsu has threatened random searches of team members if he suspects his orders are being defied. He is also considering banning chocolate products from the Haas factory facilities in Italy and England and asking hotels to remove chocolate products from rooms and mini bars. Komatsu made the decree after declaring that chocolate was a serious health hazard due to high fat and sugar content and he was enacting the ban for the sake of his staffers’ health. No one is denying that excess consumption of chocolate is bad for health but staffers consider the outright ban a step too far and an affront to their personal freedoms. But it is not thought to be a resigning issue for anyone yet. Insiders say they expect the chocolate ban to be reversed after several senior team members unofficially told Komatsu he could face action in industrial courts in Britain over the ban. The chocolate ban could also bring him problems with Formula 1 Group, which last year announced a sponsorship deal with Nestlé’s KitKat brand. Nestlé signed an agreement making the famous old Rowntree chocolate coated wafer bar the official chocolate of the sport. The deal was made to celebrate the 90th anniversary of KitKat which will coincides with the 75th anniversary of Formula One. Formula One fans are looking forward to lots of free samples at Grands Prix. KitKat fan zones are also planned at some races. Unusually for a consumer grocery brand, Nestle is buying trackside advertising for KitKat using its ‘Have a break, have a KitKat’ slogan. According to the press release, accompanying the announcement of the “partnership”, it champions the importance of taking a moment to pause, and unites two diverse global fanbases in an innovative collaboration. Both brands are dedicated to elevating the fan experience by combining the excitement of world-class racing with the renowned sense of humour of KitKat and tradition of sharing breaks.” Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of Formula 1 Group said: “Fun brand KitKat is universally loved, and we can’t wait to see the fantastic experiences they’ll be bringing to our fans at the track and the new audiences they’ll introduce to the sport.” Bernard Meunier, Nestle’s Head of Marketing and Sales, said: “Formula One offers KitKat the perfect platform to remind everyone to make time for a break. We’re excited to bring our signature sense of fun to this thrilling sport and to create memorable experiences for fans around the world.” Team principal says chocolate is harmful to health and risks conflict with F1 sponsor, Nestlé Ayao Komatsu will be in direct conflict with Bernard Meunier, Nestle’s powerful Head of Marketing and Sales as the KitKat chocolate wafer bar arrives in Formula One. 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