Bahrain paid 40 million dollars despite the cancellation
When the Bahrain event had to be canceled early in the season due to political unrest in the country, Bernie Ecclestone claimed that he would not request the payment of the calendar presence fees. However, today, he acknowledges having received the $40 million as stipulated in the initial contract with the small Kingdom.
The Independent thus revealed the statements made by the F1’s chief financial officer: «We have been paid by Bahrain. I told them I was going to return their money, but they told me not to worry about it. They are lovely people.» The last sentence is obviously a consequence of the second since there are few clients who enjoy spending money on a service they did not receive…
Yet, this is in direct contradiction with the statements made by the same man last February: “The fees normally paid for the event are not paid. I don’t charge them for a race that doesn’t take place.” This explains why Bernie Ecclestone recently stated that F1 revenues would not be down compared to last year despite the cancellation of the initial championship event: “I don’t think revenue will be down this year. I think revenue and profits will be about the same as last year.”
This is relatively surprising since the 2011 championship initially included 20 events compared to 19 last year. If Bahrain has indeed paid its planned contribution, it means that the other 19 events collectively paid less than last year to host the Formula One paddock. As for the profits, they should be up since, if Bahrain indeed paid its $40 million, the FOM did not incur the necessary expenses to transport the teams’ equipment to the Persian Gulf. Revenues are therefore stable while costs are down, which should normally result in increased profits. The expenses incurred by the organization are therefore higher compared to last year, which is not necessarily a sign of good economic management.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
