The teams and drivers had a week off from their busy race schedules, but there was no shortage of headlines. Most surrounded a dispute between the US government and Liberty Media, which has been heating up over the past few weeks, but Ferrari also brought some news with an engineer swap and a private test.
Liberty Media appeared to fall deeper into hot water with the US government this week, as the chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the sport’s decision to deny Andretti entry into Formula One. Last week, several members of the US Congress sent a letter questioning the logic behind the decision and accusing Liberty Media of violating antitrust law. A new letter, published by American broadcaster NBC, cites an intent to increase the entry fee in the new Concorde Agreement set to start in 2025 and a desire to protect “weak teams” from being forced to compete with an additional team for prize money and sponsorship deals. As part of the investigation, the committee has requested Liberty Media, Formula One Group, and all current F1 teams to turn over all documents and communication relating to the evaluation of new teams (including Andretti) as well as any documents or communications relating to entry fee changes under the Concorde Agreement. The committee has set a hard deadline of 5:00 pm on May 21.
If Formula One must hinder competition and harm consumers to protect failing competitors, then the entire Formula One model may be broken and the entity cannot hide behind the necessity of a sports league to pursue anticompetitive conduct. Delaying Andretti Cadillac’s entry into Formula One for even one year will harm American consumers to benefit failing Formula One teams.
Jim Jordan (Republican), US House Judiciary Committee Chairman
The FIA’s first CEO Natalie Robyn has announced her departure from the organization at the end of the month. She was recruited to the role at the end of 2022 and, with more than 15 years in the automotive industry, is understood to be leaving to pursue a new opportunity in that industry. Robyn is one of many high-ranking management who has left the FIA over the past year.
Charles Leclerc will have a new race engineer from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Xavi Marcos, who has been Leclerc’s race engineer since he joined the team from Sauber in 2019, will now focus on “the development of other important company programmes”, according to a statement from the team. Leclerc’s current Performance Engineer Bryan Bozzi, who has been work Ferrari for ten years, will be taking over the role of Leclerc’s race engineer. The exact reason for the swap is unknown.
Ferrari participated in a private test at their Fiorano Circuit where they trialed a revised version of the FIA’s spray-guards. The guards were fitted to the 2023 Ferrari SF-75 driven by Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Charles. Oliver Bearman followed in the 2024 car to test the visibility improvements. The FIA tested a similar concept last year at Silverstone, although it provided no significant improvements to visibility because the guards did not cover enough of the wheels. The new system covers approximately 75% of the wheel surface, with two large holes at the front. A version with open sides was also tested later in the day. As the FIA organized the test, it did not count as Ferrari’s filming day, which the team used to shakedown major aero upgrades the following day.
Around 2000 guests gathered at Westminster Abbey to honour the life of Sir Stirling Moss. The service featured tributes read by former World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, motorsport journalist Simon Taylor and Stirling’s son Elliot. Various motorsport figures and other celebrities were present, along with family, friends, and fans. Outside, some of Moss’ iconic racing cars were on display, including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR ‘722’, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupe, and the Mercedes-Benz W 196. Moss, whose career was cut short by an accident at the 1962 Glover Trophy, passed away on April 12, 2020 at the age of 90.
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