[vb-saan]

Came across this news piece that the EXOR group, controlled by the Agnelli family who run car giant Fiat/Ferrari is exploring the prospect of putting together a F1 takeover, in association with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Now this can be pretty interesting for the future of F1.
Here is the related link: Formula 1 | F1 takeover may be on the cards | ESPNSTAR.com

[Newpunter]

I don't think it is going to happen. First, the owners of F1, CVC have stated that F1 is not for sale. Bernie has also denied that F1 is for sale. Second, the other stake holders in the decision, the teams and the FIA would not be too happy with a sale to a media conglomerate. For a sale to take place, both the FIA and the teams have to accept the decision and the Concorde agreement says that the F1 telecast should always be available on free to air channels in Europe. If Rupert Murdoch takes over, he would want it to move to his Sky network which is pay per view. So Rupert Murdoch might make a good try, but I dont think it is going to happen and I don't think it would be good for F1 to be controlled by a media guy with vested interests in his own network.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

I don't think it is going to happen. First, the owners of F1, CVC have stated that F1 is not for sale. Bernie has also denied that F1 is for sale. Second, the other stake holders in the decision, the teams and the FIA would not be too happy with a sale to a media conglomerate. For a sale to take place, both the FIA and the teams have to accept the decision and the Concorde agreement says that the F1 telecast should always be available on free to air channels in Europe. If Rupert Murdoch takes over, he would want it to move to his Sky network which is pay per view. So Rupert Murdoch might make a good try, but I dont think it is going to happen and I don't think it would be good for F1 to be controlled by a media guy with vested interests in his own network.

Completely agree with your points. Good for the sport if it doesn’t happen.
But this can be a possibility due to a couple of points (1) If it’s a good deal, Bernie will definitely listen to it. After all its business, and (2) FIA president Jean Todt’s interests in Ferrari.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Completely agree with your points. Good for the sport if it doesn’t happen.
But this can be a possibility due to a couple of points
(1) If it’s a good deal, Bernie will definitely listen to it. After all its business, and (2) FIA president Jean Todt’s interests in Ferrari.

I agree with the first point. If Bernie sees more money in the deal, he would be ready to sell anything/anyone, not just F1. But I don't agree with the 2nd point. Jean Todt is no longer associated with Ferrari. He was just an employee and he quit Ferrari on not so good terms with Luca Di Montezomolo. His interests are no longer with Ferrari but the FIA and if he thinks the deal is not in the interests of the FIA, he would veto the deal. He has demonstrated since he became president of the FIA that he is no one's man and he is more interested in the FIA's role in the automotive world than any personal affiliations.
Also, even if the FIA decides that the deal is in it's interests, we still have the FOTA who wouldn't want F1 going into the hands of a pay per view media head, which would severely reduce the viewership of F1.