McLaren have become the first team to confirm they have signed up to the new Concorde Agreement – committing them to Formula 1 until 2025.
The early revised deadline for teams to sign the new agreement is understood to have been August 18, with a firm deadline of the end of the month.
With the current Concorde Agreement – the confidental tripartite deal between the teams, Formula 1 and the FIA that sets out the financial terms on which participants compete in addition to the sport’s governance – expiring at the end of this year, F1 bosses have been working on a new vision for the sport with a more equitable share of revenue in order to make the grid more competitive and sustainable.
Announcing their signatory to the new document, McLaren chief excutive Zak Brown said: “Formula 1 has taken another important stride on the road to a sustainable, strong future with the new agreement. This is the right deal at the right time for the sport, its owners, its teams and, most of all, the fans.
“A more equitable sport is better for everyone: greater balance in the sharing of revenues among all the teams and clearer, simpler governance that cuts through vested interests and puts the sport first.
“This agreement will only make the F1 constructors collectively stronger in the long term.
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“The new agreement complements and builds on the great work of F1, the FIA and all the teams during the past few months on the future financial, technical and sporting regulations.
“Everyone has had to give ground for the bigger outcome, which will be a more competitive, exciting and thriving Formula 1 for future generations, which in turn secures a healthy sport for both participants and fans alike.”
More teams are expected to make announcements soon, with Ferrari and Williams having previously gone on the record to state their willingness to sign up.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had said at F1’s Anniversary GP at SIlverstone two weeks ago that F1’s world champions were not yet ready as “there are clauses that are critical that need to be discussed around governance and certain commercial aspects”, suggesting not all teams were as happy with the state of play as they were claiming in public.
However, speaking at last week’s Spanish GP, Wolff said that “most of the clarifications that we wanted to achieve have been discussed” and that they were now ready to sign off the agreement themselves.
