McLaren Exec Dir Zak Brown said that F1 teams have "not rejected the idea of buying shares in the revamped F1 Group, and are still in discussions with both Liberty Media and each other," according to Adam Cooper of MOTORSPORT. When its deal to buy into the sport was first announced, Liberty said that "it would give teams the chance to take a stake in the new company." It currently has what it terms approximately "19 million FWONK shares retained in treasury for possible sale to the F1 teams," after extending the deadline for a deal to be done. Brown said, "We were given a short period of time to review a large investment. I think the feedback to Liberty was, 'We need to know more, we want greater visibility.' So they have now extended that window, which is a great thing. It's great to see early on they put something out, the teams had comments, and they responded favorably, saying, 'We hear you, we'll give you some more time, so we can have some further conversations.'" Brown insisted that "time was the key issue why the deal has not yet happened." Brown: "I don't think it was a case of this is a good deal or a bad deal, it was more we want more time to talk about it, get to know you, and understand where we're going" (MOTORSPORT, 2/1).
TOO PRICEY: MOTORSPORT's Noble & Bradley reported Ford said that Formula 1's "huge costs are the main factor in it showing no interest in making a return to the category in the near future." The arrival of Liberty Media has "prompted hopes of a brighter future for grand prix racing." Ford said that it "sees little benefit from getting involved when the costs of involvement are so high." Ford Performance Dir Dave Pericak said, "We're not really looking at F1. I don't see us getting into that any time soon. Formula 1 is so expensive. If you look at every series we are in right now there is a relevance to all the goals and objectives we have, in developing our tools, technology and people and translating that into road cars" (MOTORSPORT, 2/1).
