Breaking news
Formula 1
Judge suspends Sao Paulo F1 GP contract
The deal between the Formula 1 organisation and the new promoter of the Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos faces a hurdle after a judge intervened and temporarily suspended the contract.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Jan 12, 2021, 5:43 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The decision results from a legal challenge regarding the use of public funds to secure the race, and the level of transparency surrounding the deal.
In December it was announced that then F1 CEO Chase Carey had signed a five-year contract with a new promoter, and that the race would no longer be known as the Brazilian GP.
The previous deal, agreed with Bernie Ecclestone, had left F1 receiving no fee over its last few years. That arrangement ran out in 2020, although there was no race.
After plans for a race at a proposed new circuit in Rio failed to come to fruition, Carey had to find a way to keep F1 at Interlagos, but with a different promoter.
A deal was agreed for the race to be run by a newly-formed company called Brazil Motorsport, which is backed by the Abu Dhabi government through its Mubadala investment arm.
Brazil Motorsport is headed by former Olympic sailing competitor Alan Adler, who has long been involved in promoting major events in Brazil, including rock concerts, Cirque du Soleil shows, PGA tournaments and NBA pre-season games.
The change of name to Sao Paulo GP reflects a new level of support from the city, which was crucial to the new deal – as was the case last year with races such as the Styrian, Tuscan and Emilia Romagna GPs, all of which were helped by regional backing.
The true nature of the Sao Paulo financial support has subsequently become clear in legal documents that reveal how much the city is paying, namely 20m Reals – the equivalent of US$3.65m – per year over the five years of the deal.
Previously, public support had extended only to payment for renovation work at the Interlagos venue.
With the financial information now revealed, the contract has been challenged by a public petition.
The legal action has been supported by local councillor and lawyer Rubens Nunes, who wrote on Twitter: "F1 is important for Sao Paulo and for Brazil - I'm a fan - but that does not authorise the city to enter into contracts without a bid, under secrecy and with a company without 'expertise' in the area, created a few days ago for this."
The contract has been suspended by Judge Emilio Migliano Neto, pending further investigation.
"The facts reveal without a doubt, at least at this stage, that the principles of publicity and transparency are being violated in an explicit manner," the judge noted.
"For this reason also [absence of bidding], there is a need to suspend the execution of the contract, to assess whether there were effectively resources to cover the expenses detailed in the signed agreement."
The Sao Paulo authorities now have five days in which to submit relevant documents.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Continuing Alfa Romeo ties "crucial" for F1 team's future
Next article Why McLaren doesn't want Ricciardo debut to be like his first day
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 10, 2024
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
34 min
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
Pedro Acosta proposes new idea for monitoring tyre pressure in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
Pedro Acosta proposes new idea for monitoring tyre pressure in MotoGP
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 h
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe