F1 warned over future: Don't fix what's not broken

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has backed F1 and Liberty Media's desire to find an early conclusion to the next Concorde Agreement, warning not to "fix what's not broken".

The existing agreement runs through to the end of the 2025 season having been signed by all parties ahead of 2021.

But with the sport growing rapidly in recent seasons and the franchise value increasing, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has promoted the idea of 'striking while the iron is hot'.

The process of confirming a Concorde Agreement typically leads to a race to meet the deadline as different parties arrive with different beliefs as to how the championship's affairs should be set in stone, but Brown has suggested the next renewal will be simplified.

"I think everything's working great," Brown told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"If you look at the health of the sport, from a Liberty point of view, from the 10 racing teams’ point of view, the teams that want to come in, the promoters, the fans, the TV, so I'd like to see it get done sooner rather than later, just for the stability and longevity of the sport.

"I also think it's a little bit of a rinse and repeat - it's working. I don't think there's much to add or change to the existing agreement, so I don't think it needs to be a prolonged conversation either.

"I'd pretty much be happy with a rinse and repeat with a few tweaks here and there. There are things in the digital age that have advanced since we did the last agreement that I think need to be discussed.

"But for the most part, it's a solid agreement. It's working so we don't really need to fix what's not broken."

Steiner adds backing

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner also added his backing to an early resolution, adding: "You know how long these Concorde agreements normally take, we all know that, so the earlier we start, the earlier we get to a conclusion.

"I'm not against this if FOM wants to come and propose to us what they want to do for the next five years, which is actually the next seven years now. I think we, as a team, are pretty happy to talk with them."