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F1 teams are reportedly angry at the surprise early release of the 2023 season calendar. Traditionally, Liberty Media and FIA send a joint press release because it is the formally correct way. To add to this, it is Liberty Media that does the legwork of negotiating with each grand prix, not the FIA. By issuing a unilateral statement, however, the FIA has broken tradition and even caught F1 teams unaware.
A recent report from Motorsport stated:
“Tradition has always seen Liberty Media and FIA send a joint press release because if it is formally correct to consider the approval of the calendar as an area of FIA competence, it is also true that the drafting of the same is the result of a long work carried out and concluded by Liberty Media, which deals with negotiating and concluding the negotiations with the promoters of each single grand prix.”
The report further stated:
“The FIA on this occasion did not inform Liberty Media of the release of the calendar, and in the London offices the staff under the direction of Stefano Domenicali learned of it without any notice.”
What infuriated Liberty Media even more was that the statement put out by the FIA president termed the 24 races on the F1 calendar a proof of "the FIA’s sound stewardship of the sport". In the FIA's press release, Mohammed Ben Sulayem said:
“The presence of 24 races on the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is further evidence of the growth and appeal of the sport on a global scale. The addition of new venues and the retention of traditional events underlines the FIA’s sound stewardship of the sport. I am delighted that we will be able to take Formula 1’s new era of exciting racing, created by the FIA’s 2022 Regulations, to a broader fan base in 2023.”
Approval of the final triple-header not taken from the F1 teams
The F1 teams and Liberty Media have been left even more concerned with the fact that the final triple-header of USA, Mexico, and Brazil had not even been approved yet. It was expected that the teams would give their consent, but even before they did, the FIA went ahead without consultation.
A report from the Guardian stated:
“The lack of notice was not the only problem felt within the sport. The inclusion of a fly-away triple header of USA, Mexico, and Brazil requires the approval of the teams. It is expected they would accept the proposal, as they have in the past, but there was exasperation that the FIA failed to consult them.”
It will be interesting to see if there is pushback from F1 group CEO Stefano Domenicali on this and whether we see paddock heavyweights like Toto Wolff and Christian Horner weigh in on this in the upcoming races.
