McLaren didn't get any money from Liberty Media yet
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Because the whole sport is at a standstill, there are already financial blows in Formula 1. In order to deal with the initial concerns about this, Liberty Media has made money available to help teams in close proximity. Last week the first transactions would have taken place, but it is not clear which teams are involved.
In any case, it is not McLaren, CEO Zak Brown said to Motorsport-Total.com. "We have not received any advance or special payments. I haven't emptied my mailbox yet, but I don't think there's anything in it." Although he hasn't received anything himself yet, he is happy that other teams will be helped.
"This only shows the urgency that the sport finds in some teams. I'm glad that they intervened and helped the teams." For Brown, however, these payments are only short-term solutions. "Anyone who has borrowed money has actually only borrowed time."
Formula 1 has to take into account worst case scenario
The American emphasizes that it is extremely important for all teams to race this year. Even the big teams will be in trouble if this doesn't happen. "If we don't have Formula 1 this year, the financial impact would be devastating for all the teams in Formula 1 - as for any industry, if you closed them for a whole year".
However, he also adds that the sport has to take this scenario into account. At the moment, according to him, there is mainly talk about the possibility of racing in July or later, but more attention needs to be paid to a 'what if' scenario in which there can no longer be a Grands Prix at all, with or without an audience.