Ferrari Chairman John Elkann attended the recent Jeddah GP, albeit for reasons beyond Formula 1’s technical aspects. Notably, he met with Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff and discussed the sport’s economic and political nature in detail.
The two senior figures discussed the new Concorde agreement and the possible entry of a new team. These are increasingly important and contentious issues in F1 discourse.
Several important talks took place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. On the one hand, Red Bull’s instability continued following Jos Verstappen’s declarations against Horner.
“He’s the problem, but he plays the victim,” said Jos.
Helmut Marko was on the verge of suspension at Red Bull – due to supposedly leaking information to the media about the investigation into Christian Horner’s alleged inappropriate behaviour. One week earlier, the Red Bull team principal was acquitted of this on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
However, Marko had a reassuring conversation with Oliver Mintzlaff just before the race. Verstappen’s unconditional support did the rest to secure his position.
Mintzlaff was in another important discussion, with the CEO hosting Ferrari president John Elkann in the Red Bull hospitality.
This meeting was the first time the two saw each other, but their discussion was still substantive. Their talks had nothing to do with the teams vying for engineers, contrary to what some have speculated.
Instead, critical sporting and financial issues were on the agenda.
These areas have been on the horizon for some time, especially given the upcoming Concorde agreement. Relevant high-profile figures have made clear in recent weeks they want to accelerate this process.
This topic was central in this meeting. The two top representatives of Ferrari and Red Bull outlined their points of view. The current pact, signed in 2020, will need to be rediscussed for next year.
Teams want a bigger financial share than they secured in the agreement four years ago. Across the field, this will be a shared goal.
Formula 1’s smaller teams would also like to see historic teams lose certain privileges. As always, the fixed bonus assigned to Ferrari is a central topic. In the end, though, Ferrari’s presence is essential.
At the back of the field, only Sauber and Alpine will be completely independent of the big manufacturers in 2026.
The question of the eleventh team continues in the background.
Only a few months ago, Andretti Global’s request was first approved by the FIA and then rejected by the Formula One management.
The American team can bring added value under the right conditions.
If the new ‘concorde agreement’ is agreed in a reasonably short time, it will likely feature a diluted entry fee. This would bring the fee from 200 million dollars to 600-700 million, which is what everyone wants.
