Liberty Media Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Liberty Media’s most exciting change for Formula One, the new over-the-top streaming service set to debut soon has been dubbed F1 TV. The announcement made today broadly outlines the two tiered program, its features and key markets for 2018. The top program will be called F1 TV Pro, it will feature live, commercial free access to all races, qualifying and practice sessions. Including access to onboard cameras for all 20 drivers. It will also give viewers access to press conferences, support races, archival footage and otherRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Just a week after banning the use of grid girls from 2018, Formula 1 has unveiled their replacement and have come up with the perfect solution; grid kids. Instead of scantily clad ladies, kids will now get to experience the joy of the Grand Prix starting grid alongside their heroes. Most of the grid kids will be younger racers from karting or junior formulas. The youngsters will be selected by the local and regional motorsport associations to join not only the F1 drivers on the grid,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Ferrari defended itself in how they have been more accessible for the media, something Liberty Media wants Formula 1 to be more engaged in moving forward. The Italian squad came under fire when they elected to have Kimi Raikkonen not speak to the press Thursday, but instead post a video to Twitter, while Sebastian Vettel spoke to the press. Maurizio Arrivabene, team principal at Scuderia Ferrari, discussed the actions on Friday and believes that they are doing their part to make it better for the fans.Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Bernie Ecclestone is no longer the chief executive officer of Formula One. His four decade reign atop the sport has come to an end, confirmed by Liberty Media naming Chase Carey as his replacement. Ecclestone who saw the writing on the wall, stepped down graciously and released the following statement. “I’m proud of the business that I built over the last 40 years and all that I have achieved with Formula One, and would like to thank all of the promoters, teams, sponsors and television companiesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor A day after Liberty Media’s shareholders approved the plan to purchase the remaining shares of Formula One from CVC Capital Partners, the World Motor Sport Council and the FIA have approved the sale in full during their meeting today in Geneva. Liberty Media representatives held a special presentation on their plans for F1 with the WMSC representatives and participated in a Q&A session before the deal was unanimously approved. The FIA released the following statement on the historic deal. “The World Motor Sport Council has unanimouslyRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Liberty Media has announced an agreement with third party investors to raise $1.55 billion dollars in order to move forward with their plan to purchase Formula One from CVC Capital Partners. They are raising the funds through newly issues shares of their stock with the price set at $25 per share. The official release from Liberty is strewn with legal jargon, but the basic gist is that the capital raised from selling the shares will ensure the initial deal they signed with CVC for a fullRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor US based Liberty Media’s $8 billion buyout plan of Formula One is set to face its first regulatory hurdle as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may mount an investigation into the plan to ensure that the deal doesn’t violate antitrust and anti-competition laws. The CMA released the following statement on the matter. “The CMA is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise ActRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ross Brawn, the legendary former team principal and technical director who oversaw massive success at Benetton, Ferrari, Brawn, and Mercedes is set to return to the Formula One paddock in 2017. But it won’t be in the familiar role of working with a team, instead he will take up the role of Sporting Director. The news, broken by esteemed journalist James Allen is very interesting; Brawn will not replace Bernie Ecclestone, nor have any dealings with the commercial aspect of the sport. He will mainly actRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Colorado based company Liberty Media has confirmed it will undertake a buyout of Formula One from current majority stakeholders CVC Capital Partners, who have owned the majority stake in F1 for a decade. Liberty has already purchased a stake of 18.7% for $746 million. The plan calls for them to purchase the rest of CVC’s shares, at which point the company will be aptly renamed from the Liberty Media Group to the Formula One Group. Despite some changes behind the scenes, few immediate changes will happen.Read More