Mercedes ready to sign new Concorde Agreement as Wolff U-turns

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive
 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he will now sign the new Formula 1 Concorde Agreement in an abrupt U-turn.

Earlier this week, Liberty Media delayed an initial deadline until August 18 for teams to commit to the commercial deal which binds all the major stakeholders to the sport.

This after Wolff had slammed the proposed terms just a week ago, claiming Mercedes was the "biggest victim" of the financial changes put forward and weren't treated as the six-time consecutive world champions that they are.

However, speaking on Friday in Barcelona, the Austrian completed a full 180 on that position and is now ready to ensure Mercedes' future on the F1 grid.

"I've been pretty vocal after the meetings that we had within the team, to say this is what we need and these are the clarifications we need in order to move forward," Wolff said.

Also Read:

"But I've changed my opinion from Silverstone. I don't think that the teams will ever be united because everybody tries to achieve some little deals outside everybody and there's a blame culture in the media.

"So we have decided to move forward with Liberty. I've had some very constructive discussions with [F1 CEO] Chase [Carey] over the last weekend, and most of the clarifications that we wanted to achieve have been discussed.

"I feel were are at a good point to sign the Concorde Agreement and move on."

During his rant last week, Wolff also criticised other teams for being two-faced by being "up the arse" of Liberty in the media while holding other views in private.

"What frustrated me was that we as the teams are not capable of really joining up in order to have a common standpoint," Toto explained.

"Not in a way that goes against Liberty or FOM, not at all, but we're having these meetings and everybody seems to be interested in the same clarifications, and in the same kind of mark-up for contracts that are necessary.

"Then we leave the meetings, and on-air, I hear opinions that differ very much from what was said within the meeting. That is a certain frustration, I don't know why that happens.

"I have clarified my position very clearly with the ones that I think pick up the phone immediately once the meeting is finished," he added.

"I have come to a point that if we are not capable of us as the teams to have a joint standpoint for the benefits of the teams, then we'll have to go back and have our own."

 

         

 

 

Search