Breakaway Series

Last year it appeared that the Concorde agreement had settled the dispute between FOTA and FIA. It was hoped that the arrival of Jean Todt as the new president of the FIA would herald a new era of prosperity and unity amongst the Formula One teams against the difficult background that the current financial climate provides. Since then several teams have withdrawn from the sport.

Despite this it seemed like everything was running smoothly. As we reach the climax of the 2010 Formula One season there was nothing to suggest further power struggle but just two weeks ago it emerged that all but two teams (Virgin Racing and Force India) were leaving the Formula One franchise at the end of the season. After just one year Lotus, USF1 and Campos have decided to leave the sport altogether. The rest of the teams, led by Ferrari, McLaren and Williams have decided to break away to form the World Grand Prix Series. This had definitely been a work in progress as major sponsors were already in place and a provisional calendar (bottom of the article) had already been drawn up. The teams will fulfil their obligations this season but the motorsport world has been left shocked given the last two weeks events.

Bernie Ecclestone called an extraordinary meeting between FOTA and the FIA earlier this week, however, this time FOTA have shown no signs of negotiation and it seems that they have their hearts set on forming their own championship series. Jean Todt released a statement saying that Formula One is “bigger than any team or group of teams” and that Formula One will always survive but the breakaway series is “destined for doom”. His counterpart, Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo, disagrees “this is a monumental day in the future of motorsport”. He also said “We will be the biggest motorsport series in the world”.

Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, co-owners of Williams, both acknowledged that it would be a difficult birth for the World Grand Prix Series. They did feel that it would be successful though and they have faith in the progress it will make. There has been a lot of interest in filling the twelve spaces available on the grid for next year. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Renault, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Mercedes. That leaves five spaces on the grid with Toyota, BMW, Honda and two independent teams are believed to be the favourites to fill them up.

Today we have announced that from its inaugural season in 2011, we have the live and exclusive rights to show this series. We have every belief in the series ability to succeed and we are sure it will become the biggest motorsport series to ever be seen. The contract runs until 2020, so expect to hear a lot more about this series in the coming months.

Provisional Calendar

2-4th April - Adelaide, Australia
16-18th April -Sepang, Malaysia
23-25th April - Monte Carlo, Monaco
7-9th May - Imola, San Marino
21-23rd May - Monza, Italy
28-30th May – Mangy Cours, France
11-13th June - Hockenheim, Germany
18-20th June - Brands Hatch, United Kingdom
9-11th July - Montreal, Canada
6-8th August - Watkins Glen, United States
13-15th August - Estoril, Portugal
27-29th August - Hungaroring, Hungary
3-5th September - Spa, Belgium
24-26th September - Suzuka, Japan
1-3rd October - Buenos Aires, Argentina
15-17th October - Interlagos, Brazil