Force India & Sauber withdraw EU complaint

Two Formula One teams who were prepared to take their grievances with F1 up with the European Union have withdrawn their complaint.

Back in September 2015, Formula One was in a bit of a mess, as had been the norm for several years.

Lotus were in the midst of being sold, eventually to Renault, Red Bull Racing were still chasing engine deals with Mercedes or Ferrari, Manor Racing would struggle on from financial crisis to financial crisis and McLaren were struggling with Honda.

It was at this point that Force India and Sauber started to make noises about the unfair split of television revenue from FOM.

By July 2016 there were strong strong calls to scrap the prize money structure, whilst Force India and Sauber had made a formal complaint to the EU Commission regarding an even split of the money.

That process has dragged on so long that Formula One is now under new owners and due to this they have now opted to drop the complaint they made to the European Union Competitions Commission.

A joint statement from the two teams was published on motorsport.com: ‘We have been greatly encouraged by the dialogue that has been introduced following the appointment of Chase Carey as executive chairman and CEO of the Formula 1 commercial rights holder and his new management team.

‘Their approach has brought a new culture of transparency to the sport and illustrates willingness to debate fundamental issues such as the distribution of the prize fund monies, cost control and engine regulations.

‘We are encouraged and reassured by the even-handed and fair negotiating approach taken by the new management of Formula 1 to all the teams and their issues.

‘While the concerns leading to the compliant were fully justified, we believe this new approach provides the necessary degree of assurance that our concerns will be looked at objectively, and we prefer to resolve the issues facing the sport through dialogue rather than a legal dispute.

‘We want to support this transformational process in Formula 1 and thus have resolved to withdraw our complaint with immediate effect.’