Aug.28 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed reports that teams will be able to pull out of Formula 1 at the end of each season.
That is despite the fact that all ten teams signed up for the new 2021-2025 Concorde Agreement.
However, as Mercedes momentarily dithered over signing up, it then emerged that break clauses at the end of each year would in fact be features of the new deal.
“Negotiating with Bernie Ecclestone in the past was always good fun, but Liberty were scrupulously fair and we were in fact the first team to sign it in Barcelona,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.
The annual break clause allowed Red Bull to sign up even though Honda is so far only committing to F1 until the end of 2021.
“You can cancel it annually, as nothing is as certain as it used to be anymore,” Red Bull’s top Austrian official Marko told motorsport-total.com.
“Honda’s current contract with us ends in 2021, so it was crucial that the finances of the power source suppliers and the teams remain separate.”
Marko said Red Bull is also happy with the new income distribution model for the teams.
“What we lose as Red Bull Racing, we roughly get back as Alpha Tauri,” he explained.