F1 team Marussia "has become the final team to agree a commercial deal" with F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone in a move that ties all 11 teams on the grid to F1 until the end of '20, according to CRASH. The Anglo-Russian team "had been the only one still to agree a deal with Ecclestone as talks continued over a new version of the Concorde Agreement." Marussia "continued to hold talks with Ecclestone and has now confirmed that it has inked a deal of its own to strengthen its position in F1." Marussia Sporting Dir Graeme Lowdon said, "We have signed up and we are very pleased to get it completed. It has taken a long time, but the key thing for us is that the deal is now agreed and we can look forward to racing for many years to come" (CRASH, 10/25). SKY SPORTS' James Galloway reported Lowdon believes perceptions of the team "will now change after they finally agreed a new commercial agreement." Lowdon "had stressed that 'all we ask for is a level playing field' as they strove to strike a deal with Ecclestone." Asked on Friday if it was a relief that the issue could now be put to bed, Lowdon said that "it was simply more important that Marussia were no longer out in the cold relative to the rest of the grid and could focus on the future" (SKY SPORTS, 10/25). REUTERS reported Ecclestone's management of F1 "will face scrutiny next week when a German media firm seeks" more than $100M "in damages over a deal that made CVC Capital Partners the motor sport's main shareholder."
The civil case in London's High Court "is scheduled to open on Tuesday" (REUTERS, 10/25).
