After more than two years, Force India and Sauber have put an end to their legal complaint with the European Union’s Competitions Commission, officially withdrawing their complaint today.
Force India and Sauber filed a complaint with the European Union Competitions Commission over the unfair and anti-competitive method used to distribute prize money in Formula One. Force India and Sauber alleged that the structure of prize money heavily favored the large teams. The two teams were referring to the large annual bonuses that Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams currently receive on top of their regular prize money.
The EU’s investigation has been progressing slowly, with no real activity since the complaint was handed off to a different department in the Spring of 2016. However, the new owners of Formula One have been taking a step in the right direction when it comes to improving the sport, so much so that Force India and Sauber decided to drop their complaint.
A joint statement from both teams read:
“We have been greatly encouraged by the dialogue that has been introduced following the appointment of Chase Carey as Executive Chairman and CEO of the Formula 1 commercial rights holder and his new management team. Their approach has brought a new culture of transparency to the sport and illustrates willingness to debate fundamental issues such as the distribution of the prize fund monies, cost control and engine regulations.
We are encouraged and reassured by the even-handed and fair negotiating approach taken by the new management of Formula 1 to all the teams and their issues. While the concerns leading to the compliant were fully justified, we believe this new approach provides the necessary degree of assurance that our concerns will be looked at objectively, and we prefer to resolve the issues facing the sport through dialogue rather than a legal dispute.”
This move was largely expected since the complaint was largely directed towards the sport’s previous owners, CVC. The complaint had very little to do with the way that the sport is run under the current owners, Liberty Media.
