Tag: F1

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Maurizio ARRIVABENE (Ferrari), Monisha KALTENBORN (Sauber), Cyril ABITEBOUL (Renault), Guenther STEINER (Haas)

PRESS CONFERENCE

If I could start with a question to all of you, your thoughts on the arrival of Liberty Media in F1, the next steps and what it means for the development of the sport?

Christian HORNER: I think with what we’ve heard so far it sounds very positive. They are obviously part of a very serious group and I can’t believe a company like Liberty would buy into Formula One at the value that it is rumoured to have been purchased at without having a long-term game plan and rather than having a venture capitalist or a financial institution buying into the sport I think it’s far better for the start that a company like Liberty has bought in and hopefully that will address some of the areas we have been weak in previously. I think hopefully for the US market it could be a great thing and some of the other platforms like the digital and social platforms could also be very interesting. So I think we’ll wait to hear what their plans are in detail but everything we have heard so far has been very positive.

Toto?

Toto WOLFF: There is nothing more to add – Christian summarised it all. We rarely agree but this time I am 100% on the same page.

Maurizio, your thoughts?

Maurizio ARRIVABENE: They said everything, Christian and Toto, I don’t really have anything add more than that.

Cyril?

Cyril ABITEBOUL: Nothing to add. Perfect – solidarity for once.

Monisha?

Monisha KALTENBORN: I agree with what’s said. From what we’ve read so far and heard in the statements made I do also hope that they see that the sport has to be looked at from the inside and that they will take steps to ensure a certain competitive parity. That’s for us equally as important as looking towards the outside, how the product is going to be promoted.

Guenther, your thoughts on this?

Guenther STEINER: Agree with all of that. What I would like to say is being an American company, I hope, as Christian said, there is big potential in the States, so we being an American team we hope they bring that to fruition, that market, and that we can all have gains on it. We are more than happy to help them to do anything they need to do in the United States.

Just a quick follow-up on that, they’ve made it pretty clear that they would like the teams to become shareholders. Do you and your boards envisage taking up that opportunity? Guenther?

GS: You’d need to ask Gene Haas. Our board is pretty small: Gene Haas owns the board, so he needs to decide if he wants to take part of it but I think it’s like always – it depends on the price.

What about your Monisha, what are your thoughts on the teams becoming shareholders?  

MK: Well, why not. We’ve had these kind of discussions before. It’s an interesting idea. It can make sense to have all teams actually being given this opportunity and be represented as well. At the end of the day it depends on what your get and what the price is.

Cyril?

CB: Again pretty much same answer. I think it is a great opportunity. A lot of value has been derived for the existing shareholders of Formula One. I think it would be a great thing if Formula One teams were able to capture some of that value given the risks that are taken by the different parties that finance a team, so yeah, if it makes sense then I would say clearly, why not?

Maurizio?

MA: This is a strategic decision that must be taken by the chairman of the company, with the board.

Toto?

TW: Yeah, the idea sounds good. If you are able to align all major stakeholders with a long-term visions and your make the teams shareholders there are many problems you could solve but obviously this is a commercial and financial decision and the devil lies in the detail.

Christian

CH: Yeah, I think it’s a sensible thing. I think the teams are key stakeholders in Formula One; without the teams there is no Formula One. I think for the teams to take a minority shareholding would make sense and to offer it to all the teams under the same terms would make total sense. To keep it as a minority shareholding for the teams would be the right thing because obviously anything beyond that we’re never going to agree on but it does make sense for the teams to be a participant in the shareholding.

I’m sure we’ll come back to this topic, but just moving on then, Christian It’s been a while since you came to a Grand Prix as favourites, how much of a sense is there within the team of getting the win this weekend to make up for the one that got away in Monaco?

CH: We approach grand prix with the same preparation. The difference with this venue is that it plays a little more to our strengths than some of the previous races but you could see today that Mercedes look pretty quick and certainly Ferrari look right there as well, so I think it’s going to be a close battle this weekend particularly in qualifying tomorrow. But both of our drivers have enjoyed positive practice sessions, working on the set-up of the car and yeah, so far, so good.

Cyril, can you help us to understand the objectives for Renault in the short and medium term, as a works team, and when does it become important, for example, to go after a big name driver?

CA: Large question! First, I think that what we want is to put this first season behind us, simply because it’s a first season, or season zero frankly. Ten months ago none of what we are today was in existence, so I think we need to give credit to everyone for the job that has been achieved. An awful lot remains to be achieved this season. We want to finish as good as possible, as high as possible, in order to show our commitment, to show what we are capable of doing. We are not just here to make up the figures. We are here for the long term and to be a very competitive outfit. I think that a big name will at some point in time will be important. I think it is a bit too early. But clearly if you look at all the key success factors for all successful teams, there was always a symbolic ambassador who was a driver. It will be important but in my opinion it is too early to focus on that aspect only.

Guenther, You brought an update to the car this weekend, how is that looking, notwithstanding the problem that Romain had this morning. Do you think you can bridge the 17-point gap to Toro Rosso before the end of the season to finish sixth in Constructors’ championship in your debut season?

GS: I think that would be very difficult. We had a difficult two sessions today with Romain so we didn’t get as much data as we wanted. Esteban had to do most of the work. I think Toro Rosso looks to be very strong here again, so I think it will be very difficult but nevertheless we will try to do our best and whatever comes out comes out and see if we can get to seventh actually.

Monisha, clearly you are hiring again, some solid signings in the last few weeks, will we see much more of that over the coming months and where do you need to strengthen in particular?

MK: I wouldn’t really say much more but yes, there will be some more key people hopefully joining the team – we are talking to a couple of them. We have suffered a little bit in the last few months with some people leaving or a bit earlier. We gave certain areas we are looking at, it’s not going to be just overall through the entire company and we will decide how things develop and how we can get new partners onboard.

Q: Maurizio, coming back to you. A beautiful memory, obviously, here 12 months ago with a win for Sebastian from pole position. How have you refocused your goals for this season though, with an eye on next year?

MA: ‘Refocus’ is not the right word. We are still concentrated to do our best this year and, of course, as all the other teams, we are working for next season. So, we have a very, very good memory of last year but last year is not giving us points for this year, so we need to try to do our best and our maximum here. The fact that we are… the gap is very, very short in between us and Mercedes, Red Bull etc., is making, probably, tomorrow the qualifying more exciting and interesting and as well the race. Our intention is not to give up.

Q: Finally, coming to you Toto, clearly you don’t want to lose the winning habit as we move into a new set of regulations. You’ve secured your drivers in the last few months, have you also managed to secure all of your key people on the technical side and do you expect any changes there?

TW: There is lots of rumours out there and it is a little bit of the silly season has extended from drivers to other key personnel. We are happy where we are now with the team. We have obviously great spirit within the team and we want to maintain that.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Chris Lines – AP) Just a question… we’ve had a change in the commercial rights holder, a change in the ownership but we all know the impediments there are in Formula One to getting anything done, getting agreement between all the various parties. A simple change of ownership, how is that going to cure these impediments and these blockages in decision-making?

TW: Well it’s a bit of a black and white view to say there are blockages. There is a governance in place and that governance on the one hand doesn’t make us move as efficient as maybe one would want – but on the other side it gives stability to the sport and prevents irrational decision-making. So, you are right, the ownership doesn’t change the governance per se, but it’s only a couple of years until the next Concorde is going to be discussed and agreed and therefore I would say that all is going to come into play.

Monisha?

MK: I agree with what’s been said. Ownership itself does not make a difference, it will depend on what content is now put on the table, what the views are, and maybe we can find more commonalities than before.

Christian?

CH: If you take a simplistic view of it, the promoter is there to promote the sport and really should dictate what product they want Formula One to be. The regulator is then there to regulate and the teams are the participants and entrants. I think it’s not so much what’s going to happen for 2017 or ’18, I think it’s what does the future beyond 2020 hold in store? What is the vision of the promoter going to be for what Formula One, what the product should be like. How it’s going to engage with the fans, how it’s going to improve the show for the future past 2020. I think that’s the key element.

Do you agree with that Maurizio?

MA: Yeah. In general yes, because it depends a lot on the strategic view for the future but without ignoring what is at the moment the agreement we signed, all of us, what I still call the Concorde Agreement, or we want to call it contract. I think looking forward to the future it depends on the strategic view on how the new commercial rights holder wants the new Formula One to look like. I think many ideas, they were coming in the past, I think good ideas coming for the future.

Cyril, anything to add?

CA: I would just add that I think it’s good that we have some form of long-term stability because that will be an opportunity to think about the product, which is Formula One. I think always Formula One needs to find some balance between entertainment and technology. We all want to showcase technology; a number of partners want to showcase technology, which sometimes goes against the interests of entertainment and the show. So it will be interesting to see, with the arrival of a pure player on entertainment and show, how it can impact the product, which can only happen through the regulations. It will be interesting to see what they produce on that.

A final thought on this subject from Guenther.

GS:  I would say it’s quite a dark picture painted. The question is ‘why can you not agree on anything?’ I think there is stuff which is agreed on but nobody knows about. So I think we should see the glass half-full and not half-empty. A little bit is like people, for sure, pick up on stuff we cannot agree on and people don’t get to know when it is agreed for the good of the sport. We need to get better in that process. I think the governance is in place and will not be changed for a while, and isn’t a bad one.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Following on Chris’ question, it’s inevitable that the new commercial rights holders, or controller of the commercial rights will meet with all of you teams as their major suppliers and obviously discuss what you would like with them. What would be top of your wish-list when you eventually meet with Mr Carey and his various co-directors? Starting with you Christian please, and to all of you. What would be top of your wish list for the restructure of Formula One?

CH: Pretty simple really: more money for the teams, lower prices and bigger distribution of cash for all – but that probably isn’t going to happen any time soon. What we need to understand is: what’s his plan, what’s his vision of how Liberty see Formula One for the future. I think it’s going to be … he’s going to have to get himself up to speed, it’s great they’ve come to an agreement with Bernie for him to be around for a few years to come, because that intervening period is going to be crucial. But he’s going to have to get himself up to speed with the business and therefore then decide what actions they want to take for the future. There’s going to be a period of establishing what Formula One is and how that fits within their plans for the future.

Guenther?

GS: I think Christian’s right, we all want more money, more distribution. But that will not happen, as he said. I think we are waiting for their plan to tell us because maybe they have got some ideas we haven’t thought of, you know? Because we are quite stubborn in the business, we just keep on asking for the same. Maybe they’ve got some great ideas and we can support them and help them along.

Monisha?

MK: Well I agree that first of all we’d like to understand the strategy they want to take with regard to Formula One and, as I said before, for us it’s important  they look at the product, into the inside and achieve some kind of competitive parity in here, which means not only more money, or redistribution of money but also looking at the costs. We don’t see why it shouldn’t happen soon. For us there’s no need to wait that long.

Cyril, do you agree with that?

CA: I would say that the automotive industry is about to experience a major revolution and breakthrough in a number of things we read about constantly: you know, autonomous driving and so on and so forth. It will be interesting now we have this long-term visibility, to have someone who has the capacity to take the leadership to think about what it means when transposed to Formula One. Will motorsport remain in the same shape when our experience of the car, usage of the car, and ownership of the car will evolve. I think that’s a crucial challenge but also a fantastic opportunity which hopefully these guys will help us address.

Maurizio, your thoughts.

MA: I think for somebody to do an investment in this sport that does mean that they can see some potential in this sport but it’s only one week that this thing has happened, so I think it’s an early stage to make any judgement or provision. Normally what you do when you buy something, you are listening, learning, sharing and acting. So I think all these phases, they are going to happen and they request good time to make sure that the sport is growing. If you’re asking me, ‘spectacularisation’ and cost-reduction, they are two topics to take into consideration.

Final word Toto.

TW: Everything has been said, you probably don’t need to reinvent the wheel, the sport is one of the very few successful global sports, Liberty is going to help us maybe tap new revenue streams, digital revenue streams and technology and then see if it’s going to enhance the product.

Q: (Wojciech Paprota – Swiatwyscigow.pl) Question to Guenther. Your first season is slowly coming to an end. How did it go from a financial point of view? Did you have any unexpected additional costs?

GS: You always have unexpected costs on a project like this – but nothing which we wouldn’t expect. There’s a little bit more on one side, little bit less on the other. In general it went very well. We hold up a business plan and we fulfilled it almost as we planned it.

Q: (Berk Sarioglu – Motorsport.com) Mr Wolff and Mr Horner, I wondered about your opinions on the halo device which Lewis tried today in the first practice session; I think it was the first time Mercedes tried that. And how did he inform you? And we just saw another new device, the third solution for an active thing. It’s just a drawing now but we just saw it on the internet, that we saw some drawings. What are your thoughts about all this stuff?

TW: It was the second time that we tried it; we had it on Nico’s car in Spa. Both drivers didn’t complain about it, they said there was the visibility that was the problem with the mirrors so we need to work on that but beside that, they didn’t complain.

CH: About the halo or about the… I think you’re talking about Scalabroni’s drawing. Again, it’s an interesting concept. It’s more for the FIA to consider than for the teams. It looked ambitious from what I’ve seen of the drawings and perhaps there’s a more simple solution that can be pursued. I think the positive thing is that moves are afoot to address it. Everybody takes safety incredibly seriously and it’s important that the solution that we do come up with is the right solution and deals with all the issues like visibility etc, that some of the drivers are concerned about.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Maurizio, James, before, said about the key people of Mercedes. I would like to know for you which is the scenario for the future? If you are looking for somebody to make a stronger team. And the second question is about this season. You talked before that you are doing the maximum. Is it more important at this moment for you to beat Red Bull for second position in the Constructors’ championship or to look for next season’s car?

MA: I will start with the first question. For us, the most important thing is to try to win races. That’s the point for this year and to finish the season in a good way.

Concerning the other question, I’m surprised that it’s coming from you because we were repeating ten thousand times that our team is done, we’re perfectly OK with the people that we have. The atmosphere today in Maranello is very good. We have the right people with Mattia (Binotto) and the people who are working with Mattia. They just need to continue to keep up this kind of atmosphere, to look forward to next year, keeping an eye on this year also and eventually to work in peace. That means, without pressure. It’s exactly what they are doing and I have nothing to add. So we don’t need to add anyone.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Cyril, I know that the Renault team has a lot of things to do but could you expand a bit on the drivers? Is it a long list, a short list, are the current drivers on it? Yesterday they said they had no idea if they would be back.

CA: It depends who you ask, if the list is too long or too short. I think we’ve got some options. Frankly we are not rushing into making a decision, it’s an important decision, it’s likely that the drivers we will be choosing for next year will be really the first drivers that we chose as Renault, will be here for a couple of seasons so I think we are not taking that decision lightly. It’s good that we have options and we are trying to make the decision that is as much informed as possible and we are in a position to sort of take our time and look at what’s going on around us. So it’s an important decision but we are not rushing into anything.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) If Liberty’s takeover of Formula One follows the same route as CVC’s takeover ten years ago, EU regulatory approval will be required so Monisha, question to you: you filed a complaint with the EU with Force India. Have you had any feedback and could that complaint possibly put a spoke in the wheels of this deal?

MK: You know we filed our complaint irrespective of this change of ownership because the issues are not affected by that. We know our complaint is being looked at very seriously and that’s an ongoing process. If it comes to the same department, what the EU is going to make of it is for them to know and assess, not us. We have our arguments, we have put them forward and that’s what we will stick to.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) I would like to have a clarification from Maurizio about what he said before, it’s quite clear but we knew that last week a man, a leader of the production of racing F1 parts left the racing department. I would like to know from you if the revolution which started with the divorce with James Allison is already finished and if there are any more people who are coming and going?

MA: Sorry but you have the ability to confuse me! I said many many times that we are perfectly fine. Mattia is doing a good job, we are OK as we are, and we don’t need anyone else. Mattia is our technical director where before James was our technical director, now it’s Mattia with all the organisation that is in place. We have explained about the organisation many many times. What more do I need to add?

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Cyril, obviously your results this year haven’t been particularly good but we know there are mitigating circumstances with the recent acquisition of the team etc. But are you totally convinced that the team of people that you have is in fact the right team to ultimately achieve the objectives you set the team?

CA: I think we have never hidden the fact that there will be a lot of investment, there will also be growth in the company. We are recruiting in France for the engine side, we are recruiting in the UK for the chassis operation so it’s no secret. So the short answer to your question is no, otherwise I would be saying exactly the same answer as Maurizio which is not the case so no, I think we need to grow if we want to be in a position to compete against the teams that we want to compete with, which are the people on the front row. We know their figures, we know their head count so that’s the process we are going through and that’s at every level of our organisation.

eom/FIA transcript of the press conference

Max Verstappen edged team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to hand Red Bull Racing a 1-2 placing in first practice for the Singapore Grand Prix. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, hit the barriers late in the session.

Red Bull Racing has been a force to be reckoned with at the twisting Marina Bay Street Circuit, heading the list of repeat winners here with a hat-trick of wins from 2011-2013, and even after the team’s dominance ebbed following th4e adoption of hybrid engines, it has continued to do well in Singapore – with Ricciardo take back-to-back podium finishes in 2014 and last year.

And having earlier this year set the pace in Monaco and figured well in the similarly winding Hungaroring, it was expected that the Milton Keynes squad would set the pace this weekend.

So it proved, with Verstappen leading the way. The Dutch teenager logged the early evening’s best time with a lap of 1:45.823, just under five hundredths of a second clear of Ricciardo, who had been quicker than his team-mate across the first two sectors of the 23-corner layout. Both drivers set their best times using Pirelli’s ultrasoft tyre. They were also the only drivers to dip below the 1m46s barrier.

Their closest challenger was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who end the session 0.4s behind Ricciardo. He too used the ultrasoft tyre.

He was followed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fourth and Rosberg in fifth. The defending Constructors champions struggled badly in Singapore last year, when the race was won by Vettel, and in the opening exchanges this time out they were again off the pace, with Hamilton finish 0.6s behind pacesetter Verstappen and with Rosberg just under a tenth of a second further back. Both Mercedes drivers did set the best times on soft tyres however.

Rosberg’s session was ended early however, when he hit the wall at Turn 18 with 15 minutes remaining in the session. The German was able to reverse his car from the barriers and managed to get his car back to the pits for repairs.

Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari finished sixth fastest, although he was six tenths off team-mate Vettel and a second slower than Verstappen.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat finished the opening 90 minutes in seventh and eighth respectively. Behind them Williams Felipe Massa was ninth, with a time set on supersoft tyres, with Esteban Gutierrez rounding out the top ten. Gutierrez ended the session almost 2.3s off Verstappen.

The Mexican fared better than his team-mate Romain Grosjean, however. The Frenchman completed just two laps during the session due to a mechanical issue with his car.

McLaren’s Jenson Button also had problems during the session. He stopped on his installation lap at the start of running. The car was pushed back to the pit lane and he managed to get going again later, completing 20 laps in all to finish in 16^th place.

2016 Singapore Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:45.823 25
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:45.872 27
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:46.287 22
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:46.426 24
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:46.513 22
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:46.890 20
7 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:46.936 28
8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:47.683 29
9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:48.044 27
10 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:48.109 23
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:48.202 21
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1:48.214 28
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:48.359 28
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:48.453 26
15 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:49.595 16
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:49.615 20
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:49.794 27
18 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:50.263 29
19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:51.112 23
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:51.479 16
21 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:52.379 33
22 Romain Grosjean Haas  2

eom/FIA press release

September 7, 2016
Transaction price represents enterprise value for Formula One of $8.0b
Chase Carey appointed as Chairman; Bernie Ecclestone to remain CEO
Initial sale of 18.7% minority stake in Formula One, with 100% sale subject to satisfaction of conditions
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (Nasdaq: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK, BATRA, BATRK, LMCA, LMCK) and CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) announced today that Liberty Media has agreed to acquire Formula One, the iconic global motorsports business, from a consortium of sellers led by CVC.

Liberty Media owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses. Those interests are attributed to three tracking stock groups: the Liberty SiriusXM Group, the Liberty Braves Group, and the Liberty Media Group.

The consideration comprises cash and newly issued shares in the Liberty Media Group tracking stock (LMCK) and a debt instrument exchangeable into shares of LMCK. The transaction price represents an enterprise value for Formula One of $8.0 billion and an equity value of $4.4 billion(1).

The acquisition will be effected by Liberty Media acquiring 100% of the shares of Delta Topco, the parent company of Formula One (Delta Topco herein referred to as “Formula One”)(2). The acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions and is described in more detail below.

Concurrent with the execution of the agreement to effect the acquisition, Liberty Media has completed the acquisition of an 18.7% minority stake in Formula One for $746 million, funded entirely in cash (which is equal to $821 million in consideration less a $75 million discount to be repaid by Liberty Media to selling stockholders upon completion of the acquisition). Prior to completion, CVC Funds will continue to be the controlling shareholder of Formula One.

After completion of the acquisition, Liberty Media will own Formula One and it will be attributed to the Liberty Media Group which will be renamed the Formula One Group. The consortium of sellers led by CVC will own approximately 65%(1)(3) of the Formula One Group’s equity and will have board representation at Formula One to support Liberty Media in continuing to develop the full potential of the sport. In addition, a CVC representative will be joining the Liberty Media Board of Directors.

Chase Carey has been appointed by Delta Topco and will serve as the new Chairman of Formula One, succeeding Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who will remain on Formula One’s board as a non-executive director. Bernie Ecclestone will remain Formula One’s CEO.

Greg Maffei, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Media, said: “We are excited to become part of Formula One. We think our long-term perspective and expertise with media and sports assets will allow us to be good stewards of Formula One and benefit fans, teams and our shareholders. We look forward to working closely with Chase Carey and Bernie Ecclestone to support the next phase of growth for this hugely popular global sport.”

Chase Carey, Chairman of Formula One, said: “I am thrilled to take up the role of Chairman of Formula One and have the opportunity to work alongside Bernie Ecclestone, CVC, and the Liberty Media team. I greatly admire Formula One as a unique global sports entertainment franchise attracting hundreds of millions of fans each season from all around the world. I see great opportunity to help Formula One continue to develop and prosper for the benefit of the sport, fans, teams and investors alike.”

Bernie Ecclestone, Chief Executive Officer of Formula One, said: “I would like to welcome Liberty Media and Chase Carey to Formula One and I look forward to working with them.”

Donald Mackenzie, Co-Chairman of CVC, commented: “We are delighted Chase Carey is joining Formula One as its new Chairman and that he will be working alongside Bernie Ecclestone. Chase’s experience and knowledge of sport, media and entertainment is as good as it gets and we are very pleased to secure his services. Bernie has been a wonderful CEO for us over the last 10 years. There have been many successes and the occasional challenge but there has never been a dull moment and we have had a lot of fun. The combined skills of Chase and Bernie mean that the successes should continue and we wish them well. We would like to thank Peter Brabeck-Letmathe for his outstanding contribution during his tenure as Chairman. His leadership has served the company well, and we are pleased that he will remain on the board as a non-executive director.”

In the acquisition the selling stockholders will receive a mix of consideration comprising: $1.1 billion in cash, 138 million newly issued shares of LMCK and a $351 million exchangeable debt instrument to be issued by Formula One and exchangeable into shares of LMCK. Funding for the cash component of the acquisition is expected to come from cash on hand at the Liberty Media Group. The newly issued LMCK shares will be subject to market co-ordination and lock-up agreements.

The Teams will be given the opportunity to participate in the investment in Formula One, and the detailed terms of that investment will be agreed in due course. Certain teams have already expressed an interest in investing after completion of the acquisition.

The interest in Formula One already acquired by Liberty Media, and the remaining interest to be acquired upon the closing of the acquisition, along with $4.1 billion of existing Formula One debt (which will be non-recourse to Liberty Media) and $0.7 billion in Formula One cash, is being attributed to the Liberty Media Group tracking stock.

Upon completion of the acquisition, the Liberty Media Group will be renamed the Formula One Group and the ticker symbols for the Series A, Series B and Series C Liberty Media Group tracking stocks will be changed from LMC (A/B/K), respectively, to FWON (A/B/K), respectively. Formula One will remain based in London.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of: (i) certain clearances and approvals by antitrust and competition law authorities in various countries, (ii) certain third-party consents and approvals, including that of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of Formula One, and (iii) the approval of Liberty Media’s stockholders of the issuance of LMCK shares in connection with the acquisition and the name change of the Liberty Media Group to the Formula One Group, and is expected to close by the first quarter of 2017. Additional information regarding the acquisition and Formula One will be included in a proxy statement to be filed by Liberty Media with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the matters to be voted upon by Liberty Media’s stockholders described above.

Liberty Media’s President and CEO, Greg Maffei and Formula One’s Chairman, Chase Carey will host an investor conference call at 6:00pm ET / 4:00pm MT on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 to discuss the acquisition in more detail. The call can be accessed by dialing: (i) (844) 838-8043 (U.S. / Canada), (ii) (678) 509-7480 (International) or (iii) 0800-028-8438 (U.K.) at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. The call will also be broadcast live across the internet and archived on Liberty Media’s website. Presentation materials to be used during the investor call have been posted to the Liberty Media website. To access the webcast and the accompanying presentation materials go to http://www.libertymedia.com/events. An archive of the webcast will also be available on Liberty Media’s website for one year after appropriate filings have been made with the SEC. Relevant images for media use will be posted to Liberty Media’s website under the “What’s New” section of the Liberty Media homepage.

Morgan Stanley is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Baker Botts LLP is serving as legal advisor to Liberty Media. Goldman Sachs International is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Weil, Gotshal & Manges are serving as legal advisers to Delta Topco.

Forward-Looking Statements

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DRIVERS

1 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

3 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

Nico, I don’t need to tell you, your 50^th podium, your 21^st race win and more importantly, his first win in Monza!

Nico ROSBERG: Thank you very much everyone, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s a very special day for me. I’m very happy to finally win here in Italy. You guys are unbelievable and it just makes it phenomenal to be up here so thank you very, very much and I’m going to enjoy this day.

Come on, tell us a little bit about the race. It was pretty much trouble-free, could your sort of control it from the front all the time apart from the pit stop?

NR: It was all down to the start. I had an awesome start and that made the win, so it was all there.

We’ll be back to you in a second. Ladies and gentleman, we know this man. Come on, how good is it to be here in front of all your adoring fans. Lewis, was it all down to the start?

Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, look at this crowd. A big thank you to everyone for coming out. This is the best crowd we get all year; this is incredible. Obviously the start, but it’s still a great day for Mercedes Benz and I’m proud to be a part of it.

I’ve got to say, 14 race gone, two points between you two guys, I mean it’s all to play for isn’t it? it’s fantastic for us, the fans.

LH: Yeah, it’s good for you guys. I don’t know it it’s fantastic for the fans in the sense that there should have been more of us racing, there should have been a bigger race between Ferrari and us this weekend but hopefully in the future there will be.

Lewis, fantastic, well done and well done yesterday, great qualifying. Sebastian, first of all… it’s hard to believe this, isn’t it? It’s unbelievable.

Sebastian VETTEL: Unbelievable. This is the best podium in the world. Noi, Ferrari abbiamo i migliori tifosi del mondo. Grazie a tutti, grazie per essere venuti, grazie!!

This is dreamtime but nevertheless I’ve got to ask you the question: when do you think, how soon can you take these boys from Mercedes on? How soon can you be on the top of the podium?

SV: Well, we’ll try. We’re working very hard. They are doing a very good job, so you have to say “well done” and show them the respect for what the achieved in the last couple of years, but we’re fighting. I’m sure Ferrari will come back. I can’t make any promises about when, but I know we will, so keep believing, keep it up, I know that we believe in it and I’m sure we will succeed.

Why don’t you just say a few words to them in their Italian tongues?

SV: Un’altra volta – grazie, grazie mille. Noi siamo Ferrari.

Nico, a wonderful day for you, can you describe it?

NR: Oh yeah, it’s unbelievable. This makes it unbelievable. A part of me is Italian in a way, because I have a lot of friends and grew up with the culture, so all the more special. Siete i migliori del mondo, veramente. Incredibile. Grazie mille. Troppo bello. Proviamolo!! (then he sings).

We knew you were a driver but we didn’t know you were a member of The White Stripes! Anyway, please tell us, you’ve come back from the summer break and you’ve won those two races, you’re like a new man aren’t you, what’s happened to you?

NR: I’m feeling great. The race is on with Lewis of course, it’s always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what’s to come.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Nico, congratulations, your first Monza victory, second win in a week. Obviously you won it at the start. We talked about the start as an opportunity here yesterday, so tell us about that? Two points in it now in the championship and it looks like you’ve got a future in singalong as well?

NR: As we discussed, the start was the big opportunity and that worked out fantastically. I got a great start, because of course we had the soft and Ferrari had the supersoft and that worked out great and that gave me the race win in the end, because from then on I was able to control the pace and we had good speed. The singalong was awesome. The Italian crowd is just the best in the world and it’s really good fun.

Is that become a new signature when you win now?

NR: It just works here with them.

OK. Lewis, conversely, you lost it at the start. I understand you told the team by radio that it was your mistake and you obviously did everything you did to recover but were the 10 laps behind the Williams of Bottas… did that leave you too much to do in the end?

LH: Well, obviously yeah it was lost at the start. To be honest, I knew my engineers would be worried and nervous of how the start went, so that’s why I tried to put their minds at ease. I don’t really know what happened at the start, though obviously I will try to understand it later. I did everything normal. But, yeah, it’s hard to overtake here. Live to fight another day and you know a great audience here, as every year just an incredible crowd. A lot of Ferrari fans but also a lot of British flags were here today so I appreciate them coming out.

Q: Sebastian, obviously a slightly different strategy, supersoft, supersoft, soft. Was there nothing more you could do to protect the track position that you got after Lewis’ poor start in the first stint, with the tyre choices you had. And what positives do you take from this weekend in general?

SV: Well, he did one stop less, so obviously it was clear after our second stop he would be ahead of us – and I think the problem was that he was too far ahead of us. Simple as that. I think we were slightly quicker, we were on a fresher set of tyres but not quick enough to really catch up. I think in the end the gap was still fairly big. Nevertheless I think it’s been a great day. We’ve had a really good start, got a bit stuck. Maybe I should have gone to the left, I wasn’t sure what Lewis was going to do. Then I decided to go in the middle of them and was side-by-side with Nico but he did a good job braking for Turn One. I was hoping that he’ll go on the brakes a bit sooner but he didn’t. And then I had another crack, another look into Turn Four but I wasn’t close enough to be honest. After that I think we had good pace but it was sort of expected that they are obviously a bit quicker than us, in race pace as well. And I think you could see at the end the result was fairly clear. Still, I think it’s been a mega day for Ferrari. To get so much support. I think it felt even more than last year, which is great and hopefully it all peaks next year. Still, I can’t complain: two podiums in Monza two times at the start with Ferrari. I think it’s a great achievement, really happy and proud of that. But for sure, you’re always aiming for the top step, also to give the maximum support back. It’s been incredible. Coming into the track, leaving the track, even leaving late at night, they’re just happy to wave, with all the Ferrari kit, with all the flags equipped, it’s great to see the passion in this country for Ferrari and to be part of that is great. Obviously our mission doesn’t stop here. It’s only the beginning. We want to win. That’s what we really want. That’s what the people deserve as well.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Nico, I would like to congratulate you to become the first ever Finnish national who has won a grand prix on Italian soil. Winning at Spa and then Monza first time, legendary places, how does that feel in your career.

NR: It feels great.

SV: Being a Finn, you should answer in Finnish…

NR: Just talking about today it’s special because I really feel close to the Italian culture in many ways. All my best friends are Italian, I speak Italian and have a lot of connections with Italy and a lot of support here also, so it’s amazing to see. On this historic track it’s been a special place to win.

I didn’t… Imola, Monza, no Finn has ever won? Wow. Cool.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Lewis, you said you don’t know exactly what happened in the car at the start but can you tell us what was going on in there and how you felt to see all those cars go screaming by.

LH: To be honest I don’t really remember. I do remember a bunch of cars coming by but, as I said, I did the sequence, everything exactly the same and yeah, I think I just got lots of wheelspin. A bit like Nico’s start perhaps in Hockenheim. Yeah.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, yesterday in qualifying, bigger difference to Mercedes than last year, today in the race, maybe a smaller difference, you were even closing on the Mercedes with the soft tyres at the end. What was the reason for that? That you were so much quicker today. And how encouraging is it for the next two races especially?

SV: Well, we had a different strategy so obviously we had fresher tyres, different compound at the end, it was clear and expected that we were quicker and catching up – but probably not enough really to put them seriously under any pressure. I think we extracted our best race which obviously, y’know… it’s been a while since it’s been the case. It speaks for the team. I think we’ve done a very good job this weekend, everyone has been really focused and, y’know many times I hear that coming to Monza, yeah, it’s a sort of extra burden and pressure and all this. I think it’s much the opposite for everyone in the team. You come here, people are able on Thursday, Friday to bring some of their family to the track, Ferrari is very helpful and open to give the chance to some of the mechanics and engineers, a lot of their families come here to see them and support them. And equally we has so much support from all the fans around the track, so of course you want to do well, it’s family in the end. We have probably the largest family we bring to a race track in that regard but I think everyone knows when I’m saying you want to do well in front of your family. So, of course, there is a bit of tension but if anything I think it lifted us up this weekend. It was great to see also the majority of the board of Ferrari coming, turning up, our president, giving the support and it’s been exactly the opposite of what people thought – or wrote probably – about. Really no pressure. We knew it would be tough against Mercedes, it has been tough and we didn’t beat them. Nevertheless, I think we did a great job, we pulled out our best, we had a great race. We finished third and fourth is the optimum we could get. That’s a lot to be proud about. Obviously the fans deserve nothing else but the top step and hopefully we can give it to them the next couple of years.

Q: (Ralf Bach – AutoBild Motorsport) Two questions for Nico: firstly, are you the new Pirelli ambassador or why do you wear this cap here? And secondly, for what reasons didn’t you and Lewis use the supersoft tyres here

NR: I apologise for that mistake to Mercedes, sorry for that. I didn’t realise. I’m sure I’ll hear about that later on.

And what was the second part? Why didn’t we use them? Because the best race for us was soft-medium, that was the fastest way to get to the end of the race, as you could see. It was good speed.

Q: (Livio Orrichio – GloboEsporte.com) Lewis, curiosity, when you face a situation like today and you see your opponents overtaking you at the start, knowing that you have a very fast car, do you have time at that moment to think ‘oh my God, maybe I lost the race’ or do you only concentrate yourself to try to get some positions back?

LH: I think at that moment you only think about getting back to where you started. So I’d fallen back and my goal was to try and get back up to where I was. But of course, I could see Nico pulling away, and I know from my experience of being here in Formula One that whilst anything can happen, the chances of the win decrease lap by lap, second by second so of course I knew that at quite an early stage that winning the race was not going to be possible but I would try but I got up to second and that’s the best I could do with such a loss at the start.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Sebastian, it was quite unusual to see you leaving the pit lane after your second stop with the DRS open on the run down to the first corner. I presume that’s because you were in the activation zone behind Kvyat coming into the pits. Can you talk about that? It’s quite interesting. And b) you had a big lock-up coming in and I wondered if that was due to the DRS being half-closed or not?

SV: No, I had lock-up because to be honest the mindset when you come in is that you don’t really care about those tyres any more and you just to try to hit the brakes as hard as you can and stop for the line, so I had a bit of a lock-up but at that point you’re not really bothered, you just stamp on the brakes so that’s what triggered it. And then on the way out, I did have the advantage of the DRS so even if it’s 0.0 or something, you still go for it.

Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) To the Mercedes drivers; it was the seventh time this year that either of you lost the leading position, just after starting from pole. Usually you very quickly adapt to every technical rule change so can you explain why it’s so difficult to get it right with this simple clutch?

Q: I think he means single clutch.

NR: It’s the rule change, it makes it more challenging. Because now it’s down to the driver to do it. It’s more difficult.

LH: Don’t agree that it’s more down to the driver. I think the driver thing is the same as it was before, it’s just that we have a relatively inconsistent clutch and it’s hard to… In the past we were able to be told our clutch temperature and it was easier to hit our target as well but now it’s a lot less easy to know what your clutch is going to be delivering and what it’s not.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Nico, just following up from what you were saying earlier about starting on the harder tyre than Ferrari, are you able to simulate that, practise that, given the allocation situation with tyres? Are you able to be that precise in practice starts?

NR: Well, that’s the thing. No, because we’re not even practising on the grid, we’re practising at the end of the pit lane which is a whole different world. Everybody’s practising, their rubber’s going down so it’s a little bit trying to make the best guess and that’s what makes it so variable

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, after Spa with Kimi, were you more cautious at the first corner than usual?

SV: Er, well, I was side-by-side with Nico so yeah, but as I said, they did a good job on the brakes and obviously I didn’t see the car behind. To be honest, at no point did Spa cross my mind. I think after plenty of starts, I think Monza at turn one, we all know it’s tight so I did what I felt was right and it seemed to be right. I think I left enough room for Nico, obviously I wasn’t really a challenge for him into turn one and for the cars behind, obviously I saw down to turn one that Nico and myself were putting up a shield and giving a lot of tow for the cars behind so it was natural  that they closed up. Equally I think they behaved well, doing their job right under braking, not overshooting so it all seemed fine coming out of turn two at least.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Nico, it’s often said that it tends to go, for some reason, in waves, between Lewis and yourself. Both of you have waves when you are winning more races one after another and then it tends to change. So after now, winning two races in a row in one week, do you feel that the tide is in, it’s with you now?

NR: No, not at all. I don’t see waves, I just see it race by race and today I’m very very happy to have won here and next is Singapore and I will try to win there and that’s it.

eom/FIA transcript of the post-race press conference