Liberty get backing from Horner

Formula One’s new owners Liberty Media received some criticism recently following a huge drop of the prize fund for F1’s teams.

Formula 1 chairman Chase Carey insists that the fall in commercial rights income is down to the new American owners investing in promoting the sport and bringing Formula One closer to its fan base.

He claimed they were started from scratch and needed to complete research and marketing projects along with building the brands digital presence.

Not to mention a brand new logo………

All of this saw a drop of $43 million in the prize fund [a fall of 13%] on the same comparative quarter last season, is a fair bit of short term pain.

However, one of the more modern brands of Formula One is Red Bull Racing and their team principal Christian Horner has actually backed the progress Liberty have made since buying the sport and taking over from former supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

‘You have to invest in the business to accumulate and I think Liberty has had a big learning year,’ Horner told motorsport.com.

‘They have done a season now, they have applied the right specialists in the right areas, and they are forming their game plan for 2021.

‘It is very easy to criticise on head count or spending, and it is just a different mentality to how Bernie [Ecclestone] operated. Bernie ran a very tight closed shop. He was the marketing department, he was the sales department, and it was very much a one man show.

‘Obviously Liberty, having acquired the business, have put a structure in place. They are looking to put a bit more analysis in to the future as well, and there is a cost associated with that.

‘Inevitably there will be an investment which will have an effect on 2018 and probably even 2019, but you would expect to see a return for sure two years down the road.’