Spotlight shifts to FIA as F1 teams agree to partial Concorde Agreement

Formula 1 and its 11 2026 teams agreeing commercial terms for a new five-year Concorde Agreement is welcome news as the series is nearing the end of the current deal, and is preparing for Cadillac's arrival.

Motorsport.com understands the US manufacturer has agreed to pay a $450m anti-dilution fee to be allowed in as an 11th expansion team, having recently cleared the final hurdles to secure a place on the grid. Cadillac will otherwise be treated the same as every other team and will compete for prize money from year one.

That money will be split equally between the 10 existing teams to make up for prize money they will now have to share with an extra party. And while some teams would have liked to see Cadillac pay a much higher fee, as F1 team values have skyrocketed in recent years, the new figure is a compromise that is also taking into account Cadillac owner GM adding value through advertising, trackside branding, hospitality and bringing its own partners to the series as F1 owner Liberty Media aims to grow in the US.

As part of the agreements, which will run from 2026 until and including the 2030 season, Ferrari retains its historical payment bonus albeit in capped form. Meanwhile, the F1 cost cap has been raised from $135m to $220m as it now includes various new elements that were previously excluded.

Has F1 called the FIA's bluff?

While the commercial part of the Concorde Agreement has been signed, sealed and delivered between FOM and the teams, the second part of the deal regarding the governance of the series – which also involves the FIA – has not been forthcoming. The two documents are usually signed and presented together, and in a hastily issued FIA statement on Sunday morning the governing body said "the governance aspect of the 2026 Concorde Agreement between FIA and FOM is nearing completion".

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Stefano Domenicali, CEO, Formula One Group

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

However, contrary to the FIA's statement Motorsport.com understands a governance deal is actually still far away, with little progress having been made in recent weeks and months. Sources suggest FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has been deliberately stalling progress in a political act of brinkmanship that would force F1 into making concessions to the FIA to get a deal over the line.

It is not clear if the FIA simply assumed teams would not agree to announce a commercial deal without having the governance part sorted out, which details the FIA's role and includes elements like superlicence fees, if Ben Sulayem wanted to be seen as having the last word.

Ben Sulayem is not in Melbourne and is not planning to attend the opening leg of races due to Ramadan, with his first F1 appearance expected to be the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, so it is not clear how rapid that process will be.

What could be a significant element in the latest power play between FOM and the FIA is the fresh, five-year contract for F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali that was announced earlier this week, with it now clear the Italian is going nowhere and will continue to be the main player the FIA will have to align with.

Domenicali's new agreement was backed by the teams, who hailed him for the role he has played in growing F1. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said Domenicali's "track record speaks for itself", while his McLaren counterpart Zak Brown also backed Domenicali's longer tenure.

While the FIA did not wish to comment further on the matter, it did reiterate that its agreement was “near completion”.