No 'handouts' despite a lower 2020 prize fund

Formula 1 2020

No 'handouts' despite a lower 2020 prize fund

'The prize fund is a contractual formula, so the prize fund is what it is'

Sam Hall

Friday 8 May 2020 12:49

'Less races means less prize money' was the clear message to come from Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey during a media conference call on Thursday afternoon.

Carey has said that the prize fund will be lower for the 2020 season due to the likely possibility of a calendar featuring less races than originally planned.

"The prize fund is a contractual formula, so the prize fund is what it is," said Carey. "We realistically can't - we could unilaterally change it if we chose, so the question, which is guess was 'would we do something' and I guess, to expand on that, it's a percentage of profits and profits will be down. It means the prize fund will be down."

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Asked whether Liberty Media would assist teams who are compromised by a lower prize fund, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown having previously warned that teams could go out of business through a loss of revenue, Carey was non-committal in his response.

"The question is, 'would we do something to help certain teams?'," added Carey. "Again, we're not in the business of handouts, but that being said, I think we'll engage with all our partners and figure out a way that we go forward that makes sense for everybody.

"But the prize fund itself is defined by a contract that is a percentage of the OIBDA [Operating income before depreciation and amortization]. As we know what that is, I don't think we really move to the next level until we know what that OIBDA is.

"Obviously, we still have a lot of moving parts. As I said before, we haven't settled a calendar, we don't know how many fans have races so, at this point, we have a wide range of potential outcomes on the ultimate prize fund.

"When we have a better handle on that, we'll see where we are and see if it's appropriate or right for us to do anything, whether it's with a team or with any of our other partners."

Liberty Media: The 'remote possibility of no racing' remains