Liberty could scrap Ferrari’s $100m bonus

Formula 1’s soon-to-be-owners Liberty Media have warned that Ferrari could lose their automatic $100 million bonus.

Formula 1’s oldest marque, the only team to have competed in the championship since 1950, Ferrari enjoy of host of benefits that are written into the rules.

The Scuderia not only have veto power but are handed a whopping $100 million annually just for turning up.

That, though, could change under when Liberty Media take control as they seek to introduce fairer distribution of prize money.

“If you’re Ferrari, you have enormous sponsorship revenue that goes directly to you,” Liberty chief executive Greg Maffei told Forbes. “That’s going to be impacted more positively by great races.

“So thinking about balancing the team payments, so they’re a little more balanced and creates more fairness, has to be weighed, in Ferrari’s mind, I would expect, by the fact that creating a great platform helps our sponsorship revenue, too, so there’s give-and-take.”

Liberty Media have until the end of 2020 to resolve the issue as that the date when the teams’ current contracts to compete in Formula 1 expire.